


like an island, just me and you

by criminalheart



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Anxiety, Confessions, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Insecurity, Kissing, Neo-Ballroom Dancing, Past Abuse, School Dance, Ultimate Talent Development Plan (Dangan Ronpa), lockpicking, past bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-16 23:45:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13064685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/criminalheart/pseuds/criminalheart
Summary: “No, it’s not a problem at all. Don’t worry about it. I, Chabashira Tenko, the Ultimate Aikido Master, will protect you from now on! As a hero of justice, it’s my sworn duty to protect girls everywhere!”(Tsumiki Mikan meets somebody who thinks she's wonderful. Now the only question is how to make sure she stays.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan/V3 Board Game AU. It is based on this interaction between Tenko and Tsumiki: https://youtu.be/PcgJKjAcmAU?t=700
> 
> This fic contains references to the bullying and abuse Tsumiki experienced in canon, including verbal abuse, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. Most of these references are vague; there are no flashbacks or graphic depictions of abuse. But I thought I'd give readers a head's up regardless. This fic also deals heavily with Tsumiki's low self-worth and manipulative tendencies, but these traits are not exaggerated beyond what is shown in canon. (If anything, they're probably toned down.)
> 
> This was originally intended to be a ~10,000 word one-shot, but spiraled into a 20,000+ word monster because I am incapable of brevity. There will probably be three chapters. Chapter 2 is partway done and will be posted soon. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

It wasn’t love at first sight, not really.

Mikan had seen the other girl around before, even knew her name and her title: Tenko Chabashira, the Ultimate Aikido Master. Tenko was on good terms with several of the girls in 77-B, and could be seen talking to them in the hallways sometimes, smiling or laughing or gasping in shock. She seemed nice, if a little loud. Sunny and energetic, the type of person who made friends easily. But Mikan wasn’t her friend, of course.

There wasn’t anyone in the whole school who would want to be Mikan’s friend.

No one wanted to spend time with her. Why would they, when all she did was make things awkward – when all she was good for was being hurt and laughed at? She made a good spectacle, sometimes, but she didn’t make a good friend.

The kind of person who would laugh _with_ her, not at her. The kind of person who would listen to her secrets and trust her with their own. The kind of person who would invite her to places outside of schoo, like the movies or the beach. The kind of person who would accept her in spite of her many defects and forgive her whenever she did something wrong.

The kind of person she could call a friend: that type of person didn’t exist.

Mikan would never meet someone like that. She was sure of it.

Until she encountered _that_ girl.

“Leave it to me! Hold on!”

Strong hands caught her before she could hit the ground. One arm around her shoulders, one under her legs. For a brief moment, she was held aloft in the other girl’s arms; it was the same way someone would carry a bride or a princess. Then the moment was over, and she was gently set down on her feet.

Breathlessly, Mikan offered her thanks.

Theother girl said, “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad I was able to help you.”

That’s where it should have ended.

Whenever anyone was gracious enough to help Mikan out, that was where it ended: they helped her, she thanked them profusely, and then they carried on with their day. There wasn’t, after all, any good reason to spend time unnecessarily with someone like her.

But for some reason, that wasn’t the end of their encounter. Instead, Tenko kept talking.

“Helping girls is a given! And helping girls in distress is even more of a given! I’m Chabashira Tenko, hero of justice!” she declared. “Saving girls and crushing men is what I do best!”

Posed confidently with one hand on her hip, and the other held in a chop in the air in front of her, she looked like a true master of martial arts. So full of energy, so sure of herself – Mikan couldn’t help but be impressed by her bold words. This girl was everything Mikan was not.

“Hero of justice?” Mikan asked.

“Oops,” Tenko said. “That was supposed to be a secret… Although I’m sure it’s no big deal to tell that to a wonderful girl like you, Tsumiki-san.”

That was it. That was when it happened.

In that moment, Mikan’s entire world turned upside down.

Her breath was taken away. Her heart thudded hard in her chest. It felt like the floor had dropped out from under her, like she was falling again.

And this time, there was nothing and no one to catch her.

“W-Wonderful? _Me?!_ ”

That was wrong.

“Of course! You’re always doing your part in the health committee and helping everyone.”

There had to be some mistake. Surely, there had to be.

But Tenko’s honest smile betrayed no ulterior motives.

Somehow, this didn’t seem to be some sort of joke at her expense.

She was still nervous she had it wrong. She was scared that she’d misheard or misunderstood. She was scared it was a lie.

Scared… but also excited. Because even though she knew it was too good to be true, she desperately wanted it to be.

Was this what it was like to feel hope?

“C-Can you say it… again?”

Mikan’s voice trembled when she asked. Her vision was starting to swim. But her gaze didn’t waver. The person who had told her the one thing she always wanted to hear was standing in front of her, and she couldn’t afford to even blink for fear of missing a second.

“You’re a wonderful girl, Mikan.”

Warmth spread throughout Mikan’s body. From the center of her chest, up to her face and across her cheeks, all the way down to the tips of her toes.

She’d found it: what she’d been searching for all along.

From that moment on, there was only one person who mattered.

* * *

 

Tenko left after that, and Mikan watched her go. She kept staring at the space where she’d just been, long after the other girl had made her exit.

Mikan stayed in the infirmary for a long time after that, laid up on one of the beds. She’d needed some time to cool down; her legs felt weak, and her heart was racing a mile a minute. She still felt warm all over, but the warmth had changed from something comfortable to something a bit too hot. She felt feverish, almost.

_Is this… love?_

With the way others described love – people at school, kids in her neighborhood, starry-eyed girls in a thousand movies and manga and dramas – Mikan wasn’t honestly sure how to differentiate it from an illness. Symptoms seemed to include nausea, insomnia, tearfulness and difficulty focusing, among other things. But she knew she was healthy right now. Physically, anyway.

Mikan had never been in love before.

She wasn’t sure how to handle it, really. She had always thought that falling in love would be far too presumptuous. Forcing someone to deal with the unwanted feelings of a repulsive girl like her was just too much to ask. She’d just be a burden to whoever she fell in love with.

But Tenko had called her wonderful…

Mikan’s face turned scarlet at the memory, at the echo of those words in her ear. She turned over with a groan, burying her face in her pillow.

Was it really alright for her to feel this way?

More importantly, would she see Tenko at school tomorrow? What was her lunch schedule? What clubs was she involved with? There were so many questions all of a sudden.

From that day on, Mikan looked for Tenko wherever she went. On the way to school, in the hallways throughout the day, during lunch, during gym, after school and on the way home. She had her eyes peeled wherever she went.

The next day at school, she saw nothing – no clues that would lead her to Tenko’s whereabouts. And then the school week was over and the weekend began.

Curled up on her bed in her room, Mikan knew she needed a plan. Just waiting around, hoping to see Tenko again wasn’t good enough. She couldn’t afford to miss her again. She would have to go looking herself, maybe ask around for her… even if that meant talking to the other girls in her class, something she usually did her best to avoid. Whatever it took, she needed to do it.

On Monday, Mikan got to school early and stood behind the bushes near the front gates, avoiding the other students’ eyes and trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She didn’t know whether Tenko generally came to school on the early side or the late side, but if she waited by the gates until class started, she’d have to see Tenko at some point.

Though, when she saw her, Mikan wasn’t sure what she’d say.

Maybe she should trip again so Tenko would have a reason to go over to her? Or maybe she should lose something in one of the bushes? Tenko was such a nice person, she’d probably volunteer to help her look for it. And that would conveniently explain why she was hanging around by the bushes instead of heading inside with everyone else.

Just as Mikan was trying to decide what to lose, she was startled by a familiar voice coming from right behind her.

“Tsumiki-san?”

“Eeeek!”

Mikan tripped. This time it really was an accident. She fell straight into one of the bushes.

“…are you okay?” Chiaki asked, head tilted to one side.

“I-I’m okay! But p-please don’t look,” Mikan said, trying to push down her skirt. Wincing a little, she climbed out of the bush.

“Um… were you looking for me, Nanami-san?” she asked, as she started to pick the leaves off of her uniform.

Chiaki nodded. “I was wondering if you could help me with an errand for Yukizome-sensei,” she said, her expression as unreadable as always. “I need to get it done before class starts. If you’re free, it should only take a minute... I think.”

“Oh.” Mikan looked at the ground. Normally, she’d be happy to have the opportunity to be useful to someone – especially someone as important as the class rep – but today, she had bigger plans than that. Getting one of her classmates to like her wasn’t nearly as important as getting to be with Tenko again, even if that classmate was the class rep.

But it wasn’t like she could just say no. Someone like her didn’t have the right to refuse.

“A-Alright,” she said, defeated. “I’ll be right there…”

And just like that, her chance at meeting Tenko before school was over.

Trying not to feel too discouraged as she headed inside with Chiaki, Mikan reminded herself that it was only the beginning of the day. There would be other opportunities, like lunch.

During lunchtime, Mikan usually stayed in her classroom and ate the bento box she’d prepared for herself. Lunch periods were usually rather dull, save for the times when she tripped and managed to land in a particularly humiliating position, but eating in the same room as her classmates was still an improvement over what she did at her old school. She used to have to eat alone in one of the bathroom stalls – hoping the entire time that the girls in her class wouldn’t figure out where she was hiding.

Thinking ahead, Mikan hadn’t brought a lunch today. Instead, she’d brought money to buy some food from the cafeteria. As a master of martial arts, Tenko was surely too busy training to prepare her own lunches all the time… right? She must go to the cafeteria, at least sometimes, and today could be one of those days.

For the whole duration of lunch, Mikan sat alone in the cafeteria, scanning the throngs of students for a girl with a blue uniform and a pinwheel in her hair.

But she saw nothing. Not even a glimpse.

Hanging her head, Mikan trudged slowly back to her classroom.

By the end of her final class, she had nearly given up all hope. With nothing to look forward to, it was hard to care about her classwork. Nagito gave her a temporary distraction when his chemistry project exploded and he needed help treating the burns on his hands, but even the temporary thrill of someone needing her help wasn’t enough to make up for the disappointment of not seeing Tenko.

At the end of the day, she had cleaning duty, so it wasn’t possible for her to leave and go wait again by the gates as soon as the bell rang. She couldn’t decide if it was worth it to wait there for a few hours anyway. Tenko might have an after-school activity, but she also might have already gone home. Maybe she should just go home too. Clearly luck wasn’t in her favor today.

But then again, luck was never in her favor, and she had nothing better to do anyway.

As Mikan exited the classroom and started down the hallway, still unsure of what to do, she wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted her in the room at the end of the hall. She almost dropped all her things when she looked through the classroom window and saw Mahiru sitting at a desk, across from none other than—

“Wow, your photos are amazing! Just what I’d expect of the Ultimate Photographer.”

“Thanks,” Mahiru said. “Though, I’m surprised you even like the pictures I’ve taken of boys.”

“It’s true that I try to avoid gazing directly at male degenerates whenever possible. But… how should I put this…” Tenko frowned, looking conflicted. “When they’re having their picture taken by someone as amazing as you, it’s like I almost forget they’re men at all.”

“I’ll…take that as a compliment, I guess,” Mahiru replied, laughing a little awkwardly.

Tenko flipped through a few more pages of the photo album with that same conflicted look. Then, seeming to decide something, she closed it resolutely. “Yep, I was right!” she said. “Koizumi-san’s photos are always a joy to look at, even when the subject is a disgusting man!”

“You know, I think there’s a picture of Yumeno-san somewhere in there… I took some during her magic show last month. I think that picture turned out pretty nicely.”

“ _Y-Yumeno-san?!_ ” Tenko gasped. “Where?! How could I miss such a thing?!”

“It should be towards the back, since it’s one of the most recent ones in there.”

“Amazing! I need to see it right now!!”

All while the girls were talking, Mikan stood outside the window, frozen. But as Tenko returned to eagerly searching through the photo album, Mikan made up her mind.

She was going home after all.

In fact, she felt like she needed to go, _right now_.

Quietly, so as not to be noticed, she walked past the classroom windows. Once she knew she was out of their sight, she broke into a run, through two more hallways and then through the front doors. She didn’t slow down until she was all the way home.

She knew it was stupid. That was the opportunity she’d been waiting for all day. But once she had it, she’d thrown it away.

She thought she’d be happy, seeing Tenko again. But somehow, watching her with Mahiru, and listening to them talk… she wasn’t happy at all.

Instead, she felt unspeakably lonely.

She couldn’t join in. She didn’t belong with them. They didn’t even notice she was there.

Compared to someone like Mahiru, who got along with everyone easily. Compared to Mahiru, who could talk to Tenko as though it was nothing… Mikan would never measure up. She could never be like that.

Seeing them talking had reminded her who she really was, and who she could never be.

She always knew it, that she was nothing compared to the other girls in her class.

But being slapped in the face with a reminder like that hurt more than any kind of physical pain.

* * *

 

Okay, so, she wasn’t able to approach Tenko when there were other people around. She didn’t have the courage for that. She’d get too intimidated and give up. But if she was being honest with herself, she'd always known that was true. What she needed to do was get Tenko alone.

The trouble was figuring out _when_. Someone as amazing as Tenko surely must have a lot of friends. Mikan didn’t know her schedule or daily routine, either.

There was no way around it. She was going to have to ask around at school.

The thought gave her a lot of anxiety. She didn’t get along with her classmates very well. Many of them were outwardly kind, and none of them seemed to hate her except Hiyoko, but there was always a wall between her and them. She could tell they found her pitiful. She could tell she wasn’t a real part of the class.

She had to keep reminding herself that it didn’t matter what her classmates thought of her – not any more. She’d met someone who thought she was wonderful. That was all she needed: just one person who was kind enough to tell her something like that. As long as that one person accepted her, it wouldn’t matter if everyone else cast her aside.

Since Mahiru was clearly good friends with Tenko, Mikan went to school on Tuesday resolved to approach Mahiru about it. During lunch, however, she didn’t find an opportunity; Mahiru left for the entire period like she always did, and Mikan wasn’t quick enough to catch her on her way out the door. Her next chance to talk to Mahiru was going to be during gym. She’d have fifty minutes; that should be more than enough time to work up the courage to talk to her.

Except there was just one problem: Hiyoko was glued to Mahiru’s side all during gym. The locker room wasn’t any good, either; Hiyoko was with Mahiru the entire time then, too. Somehow, Mikan had completely forgotten that Mahiru always helped Hiyoko change in and out of her kimono.

There was no way she could hope to talk to Mahiru with Hiyoko around. Depressed that she’d lost another opportunity, Mikan performed even worse during gym than usual.

As the final bell rang and everyone else in class began to gather their things, Mikan stayed firmly put at her desk, eyeing Mahiru from beneath her bangs. Hiyoko was talking to her about something, of course. As usual. Mikan couldn’t help but resent her for it. Couldn’t she leave for even a second?

A minute passed. Hiyoko was still talking to Mahiru. Another minute passed. Hiyoko was still – _ah_ , she got distracted yelling at Teruteru about something.

Finally, she was gone. This was her chance.

Slowly, Mikan approached Mahiru’s desk. She appeared to be a little relieved to be free of Hiyoko herself – in fact, it looked like she was trying to leave the room without the other girl noticing.

Wait, that wasn’t any good either.

Without thinking, Mikan called out after Mahiru before she could leave.

“ _K-Koizumi-san, c-could you please wait just a minute?!_ ”

Mahiru stopped and looked over her shoulder. She seemed surprised, but thankfully not annoyed.

“Mikan-chan? What is it?”

“Um,” Mikan said, temporarily frozen. Her relief at successfully capturing the girl’s attention melted into worry, as she realized she didn’t know how to ask her question. “Yesterday you… um…” She bit her lip. No, she couldn’t afford to fail now. Now was the time to speak up. “T-That girl you were talking with after school yesterday… do you know what she’s doing right now?”

Ah… she finally did it. She finally asked.

Much to Mikan’s dismay, however, Mahiru just frowned at her in confusion.

“Which girl do you mean?” she asked. “I talked to a few people after school yesterday.”

Mikan swallowed. “O-Oh.” Of course, someone like Mahiru had lots of friends she talked to after school every day – so many she couldn’t even keep track, probably.

She knew that now wasn’t the time to get depressed about that, but she couldn’t stop her voice from trembling anyway. “Um, the person you were sitting with in that classroom… you know, the one you were—”

“Hey, just what do you think you’re doing?”

Mikan froze. An icy feeling washed over her heart at the sound of _that_ voice.

“Koizumi-oneechan doesn’t like to talk to ugly pig bitches like you,” Hiyoko said, getting in between Mikan and Mahiru. “You’re just wasting her time.”

“I-I’m sorry!” Mikan apologized right away.

“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh?” Mahiru admonished Hiyoko with a frown. “Mikan-chan was just trying to ask a question.”

“Hmmph.” Hiyoko turned away, scowling. “Let me guess, she’s trying to find out where she can get a better personality? They don’t sell that in stores.”

“Hiyoko-chan…” Mahiru sighed, but didn’t bother trying to argue with her. “Well, anyway,” she said, turning back to Mikan, “Who’s the person you were asking about?”

Before Mikan could even open her mouth, another voice cut in, and another body forced its way into the circle that had now gathered at the front of the classroom.

“Huh? What’s this? You don’t usually see Mikan-chan hanging around you guys,” Ibuki said, jumping in between Mahiru and Hiyoko. “Don’t tell me… is this ‘girl’s talk’? A secret all-girls meeting?!” Ibuki gasped. “That’s totally what this is, right? Next time, please invite Ibuki too!”

“It’s not like that,” Mahiru said, looking pretty put-upon now. “Mikan-chan was just asking about someone she saw me talking to yesterday… right?”

“Y-Yes,” Mikan replied, voice quiet and small. She’d meant for this to be a brief, private conversation. Getting all this attention was what she’d been trying to avoid. Especially from someone like Ibuki, who would probably make a big deal out of things.

“Oooh, what’s this? Is there someone Mikan-chan is interested in? Could it be…” Ibuki clapped her hands over her mouth, an expression of utmost shock on her face. “ _First love?!_ ”

“I-It’s not like that!” Mikan cried, feeling really frustrated. The way Ibuki had seen right through her struck a nerve. “I just s-saw her talking to Chabashira-san yesterday, a-and I have to talk to her about something, so, I was going to ask if she knew where she was! That’s all!”

“…Chabashira-san?” Ibuki repeated. “You mean, Tenko-chan? That reaaally loud girl who’s good at sports?”

“Y-Yes,” Mikan said, still a little out of breath from the shouting she’d just done. “Do you know where she is?”

“Nope, no clue!” Ibuki said cheerfully, making a peace sign. “But I know how to find her,” she added, before Mikan even had time to feel disappointed.

And with that, she grabbed Mikan by the arm and forcibly dragged her out into the hallway.

“HEY, TENKO-CHAAAAAN!” Ibuki called out at the top of her lungs. “TENKO-CHAAAAN, WHERE ARE YOU?”

“T-Too loud!” Mikan squeaked, covering her ears.

“TENKO-CHAN, TENKO-CHAAAN! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!”

“I-I don’t think that’s going to work,” Mikan said weakly.

But right after she said it, she heard someone say, “Mioda-san?”

Mikan’s heart stopped. Slowly, she turned around. That voice had sounded unmistakably like…

“Tenko-chan, there you are!” Ibuki ran up to Tenko, dragging Mikan with her. She didn’t seem to care that several students were peeking their heads out of their classrooms or staring at her from the windows.

“What is it?” Tenko asked, also looking utterly unperturbed by all the attention.

“Today’s your lucky day! This super cute girl was lookin’ for ya.”

And with that, Ibuki shoved Tenko in front of her with enough force to topple her over.

Mikan winced as her butt met the hard floor. She’d had much worse falls before, and the position she landed in wasn’t even that embarrassing, but it still hurt.

“Oh no, I wasn’t quick enough…” Tenko fretted. “I’m sorry, Tsumiki-san. Here, grab this!” And with that, she thrust out her hand.

Mikan stared at it for several moments before she took it. It might have been that she was still disoriented from the fall. But she also wasn’t used to people offering to help her. When she had accidents, people either ignored it, or they laughed at her.

“T-Thank you,” Mikan said, after Tenko helped her to her feet.

“So,” Tenko said, as Mikan brushed off her skirt. “You were looking for me?”

Mikan swallowed. This was it. This is where she asked Tenko if… if she wanted to spend time together. Or something.

Except, there was just one problem: how could she ask? Didn’t she need to have a specific plan, a specific thing to invite her to do?

She really didn’t have an excuse to talk to her. She needed to come up with one, fast.

“Um…” she stumbled over her words. A few different potential excuses occurred to her, but they all jumbled together in her mind. “Could we…” she tried again. “I-I was wondering if…”

Unfortunately, Ibuki chose then to butt in. “Oho? What’s this? Are you gonna confess?”

Mikan sputtered. “C-Could we maybe, u-um—” She tried to talk over her, but got interrupted again.

“Is this the moment of truth? Is Ibuki about to witness a super sappy soap opera moment? Ghhh!” Ibuki clutched at her own chest, seemingly unable to take it. “Amazing! Ibuki is sooo lucky that she gets to see Mikan-chan take her first steps into the wild, wonderful world of—"

“ _Could we please go home together?!”_

That was how she asked. In her attempt to keep Ibuki from finishing the rest of her sentence, she said the first thing that popped into her head. Or shrieked it, more accurately.

Once her own words sunk in, she wanted to die. She couldn’t even look at Tenko. She didn’t want to see the other girl’s shock at the fact that some girl she barely knew would ask something so presumptuous.

Mikan was about two seconds away from eeking out an apology and making a run for it, the way she had yesterday, before Tenko could give a response. Before Tenko could turn her down. More than anything else, she couldn’t bear Tenko’s rejection.

But the rejection never came.

“You want to go home together? Sure.”

Mikan froze.

She almost assumed she’d misheard. She almost asked her to say it again.

Slowly, tentatively, she raised her head.

Tenko… was smiling.

“R-Really?” Mikan asked, staring at the other girl in pure disbelief. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all,” Tenko said. “I will gladly escort you home. Protecting girls from creepy men on the way back from school is part of being a hero of justice. If any man tries anything, I’ll just use my neo-aikido to put a stop to it!” she declared, taking a few swipes at the air.

Mikan just stared. Both Tenko’s smile and her gaze didn’t waver. Everything about her radiated pure sincerity. Even to someone like Mikan, who had plenty of reason to doubt others, there wasn’t any room for doubt.

Her offer had been accepted.

Mikan bowed her head, still hardly daring to belief it. “T-Thank you very much.”

“No problem,” Tenko said. “Ready to go?”

Mikan raised her head and nodded her assent. “O-Okay…”

* * *

 

And that was how she ended up leaving school, for the first time ever, with somebody else by her side. After saying goodbye to Ibuki, Tenko gathered her things, and set off with Mikan for the school gates.

For the first few minutes of their walk home, Mikan simply basked in the feeling of having somebody beside her – of being _seen_ with somebody else, somebody as amazing as Tenko. Her heart raced at their proximity. She couldn’t help but steal glances sideways, trying to get a look at the other girl’s face: the way her bangs framed her cheeks; her seemingly permanent smile.

But mingled with the elation was no small amount of anxiety.

Mikan had spent so much time thinking about how to meet Tenko again that she hadn’t had any time to think about what she’d _do_ when it actually happened. On a walk home from school, just how was she supposed to keep Tenko entertained? What did girls normally talk about when they walked to and from school together? She had no idea.

Luckily for her, while she was racking her brain trying to come up with something to say, Tenko decided to break the silence herself.

“So, Tsumiki-san…”

“Y-Yes!” Mikan said automatically, startled out of her thoughts.

“What’s it like to be the Ultimate Nurse?” Tenko asked. “Does it ever get tiring, helping people all day long?”

Ah… so they were going to talk about this. She supposed that was a safe topic.

“No.” Mikan shook her head. “Helping sick people is what I enjoy doing. S-So, I don’t mind doing it all day long.”

“That’s amazing!” Tenko exclaimed, so loud it was a little alarming. She pumped her fists in the air and nearly hit Mikan in the face. “You really are an incredible girl.”

Mikan blushed scarlet. First _wonderful_ , now _incredible_ … she hadn’t been prepared to be complimented that way again. A warmth settled in her chest.

“Thank you very much,” she said. “B-But I’m sure you’re even more wonderful.”

“No, you’re just not giving yourself enough credit.” Tenko denied it easily. “It’s amazing that you can spend all day using your talent. My passion is neo-aikido, but even I get a little tired when I practice all day long, you know?”

Ah... she just got complimented again. The flush on her cheeks deepened. She was starting to feel a little _too_ warm, though. Maybe they should talk about something else.

“U-Um... if it’s okay to ask…” Mikan said timidly, “What is ‘neo-aikido’?”

Turning the topic of conversation to Tenko was probably a good idea. Although her question did make her feel a little insecure. What if she was supposed to already know?

Tenko quickly assuaged her fears, however. “It’s definitely okay to ask,” she said. And without any hesitation, she proceeded to launch into an explanation. “Neo-aikido is a new form of aikido, reimagined by me and my Master! When I was young, my parents sent me to a faraway temple so I could learn to master my energy. From then on, I learned all about mental discipline from the head priest. That’s how he became Tenko’s master. After that, we collaborated together to create a brand new form of martial arts, where the moves are all our own design!”

“Wow,” Mikan said. “I see. How impressive.” What Tenko was saying _was_ impressive… though Mikan was more impressed by how excited she got talking about it.

It was… kind of cute.

“Isn’t it?!” Tenko said enthusiastically. “And what’s even more impressive is this: at the temple, me and my Master…”

For the remainder of the walk home, Tenko continued to talk about neo-aikido while Mikan listened. This was an arrangement Mikan was perfectly comfortable with. It was good that Tenko had no problem talking on and on; not having to carry the burden of continuing the conversation put Mikan’s heart at ease. As time went on, her initial anxiety evaporated, and she began to feel more and more relaxed.

Before she knew it, they’d arrived at Mikan’s apartment complex. Mikan stopped outside the gate, and Tenko eventually noticed and came to a halt as well.

“Is this your place, Tsumiki-san?” Mikan nodded. “Got it,” Tenko said. “Then, I’ll see you at school tomorrow. It was nice talking to you!”

And with a smile and a wave, Tenko began to walk away from her.

 _Wait_ , Mikan thought, frozen in place, staring after her back. _Wait. Don’t go._

Ever since Tenko had caught her in her arms, had told her she was wonderful, Mikan hadn’t been able to think about anything else. All she could do was wonder when they might meet again. She’d been longing for this moment, and now… for it to end so soon…

“Wait… _Chabashira-san!_ ”

Desperately, almost panic-stricken, Mikan cried out her name.

Tenko stopped, turned around and faced her. “Hmm? What is it?”

“Um…” Mikan fidgeted, clutched her hands to her chest. “Would it be okay… if… we walked home together tomorrow, too?”

Fortunately, Tenko didn’t look at her like she was strange for asking. Unfortunately, she didn’t look like she was about to agree.

“Guhhh, tomorrow might be a little tough,” she said, frowning. “I have practice after school tomorrow, so I can’t really go home until dinner.”

Mikan’s heart sank, but she knew she had to keep trying. “I-It’s fine,” she said. “I can wait for hours if you want.”

“It wouldn’t really be fair to make you wait, though,” Tenko said. Then, seeming to notice the way Mikan shrank at her words, she asked, “Tsumiki-san, is something wrong?”

Mikan blinked at her. “Eh?”

“Is there a reason you’re afraid to walk home by yourself? Don’t tell me… you have a stalker?!” Tenko gasped. Her own suggestion seemed to enrage her. “Has some degenerate male been following you? If there’s someone like that, let Tenko know! Tenko will crush him!” And, with a look of furious determination on her face, she moved fluidly into a fighting stance and delivered a roundhouse kick to thin air.

“N-no, there’s nothing like that going on…” Mikan said.

Tenko sighed. “That’s a relief.”

“…but at my old school, whenever I walked home, people would find me and make me go with them somewhere alone. And then they’d burn me with cigarettes.”

“ _What?!_ ”

Mikan hadn’t meant to say it. Independent of her brain, the words had left her mouth before she could stop them.

And once she’d started, she found that she couldn’t stop.

“Or they’d throw darts at me, or make me strip,” she continued, watching the dawning look of horror on Tenko’s face. “And sometimes they stole my clothes and my books, once I learned to stop carrying money.”

Tenko looked absolutely shocked. “Tsumiki-san…”

That reaction… was pretty satisfying. But it also made her feel a little bad at the same time.

Honestly, Mikan didn’t know why she’d said those things. She just wanted to make Tenko realize how much she needed her, without saying it outright. But maybe she’d made a mistake. She didn’t want to make Tenko hate her… the very idea made her panic.

“I-I’m so sorry for making you uncomfortable!” she cried. “I’m really, _really_ sorry for making you hear something like that! P-Please forgive me!” And with that, she bowed deeply in front of the other girl.

“It’s not like that!” Tenko said hurriedly, flailing her hands in the air. “I’m not mad at you! I’m mad at the people who did that to you!”

Those words were not what Mikan had expected to hear. Slowly, she raised her head to look at the other girl.

Tenko looked… upset. So sad and angry, it was actually surprising to Mikan.

“This is why degenerate males make me sick!” Tenko said, gritting her teeth. “Are they still hurting you?!” she demanded. “Do they live nearby?! Wherever they are, Tenko will hunt those men down and kick them and punch them! They don’t deserve to live!”

Mikan furiously shook her head, taken aback by Tenko’s reaction. “I-I haven’t seen anyone from my old school since coming here. So, um, t-they’re not still doing those things.”

That seemed to calm Tenko down a little, but she still looked upset. “Still,” she said, seeming to struggle with something, “If awful things like that have happened to you… no wonder you don’t feel safe going home. You must be worried it’ll happen again.” Tenko’s eyes were cast down. She looked more sad than angry now, but it was a resigned sadness.  

Mikan knew that look very well. It was a look of pity.

She couldn’t decide how she felt about being pitied by Tenko. It was true that she’d kind of been trying to get Tenko to pity her. If Tenko felt sorry for her, that might be beneficial. It could bring them closer together, if Tenko took it upon herself to protect her.

But just being pitied by her… that wasn’t all Mikan was looking for. A funny feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

For a moment, there was silence, the atmosphere thoroughly awkward as they both avoided looking at each other. But then, Tenko took a deep breath.

“Alright,” she said, seeming to decide something. Mikan stared at her in surprise as she saw that she was back to smiling and looking positive. “It’s settled,” she declared. “From now on, I’ll be escorting you to and from school every day.”

“ _E-Eh?!_ ” Mikan couldn’t believe her ears.

“Unfortunately, I can’t really afford to fall behind, but… if Tsumiki-san is willing to wait, then I can walk you home after practice tomorrow!” Tenko said.

Mikan kept staring at her in surprise. A strange concoction of happiness and guilt settled in her stomach. This was exactly what she wanted to hear, but… the reality of having forced Tenko into making that offer by telling her about the times she’d been hurt made Mikan feel bad.

“Y-You shouldn’t be going to all that trouble for me,” Mikan said. “It’s way too presumptuous to ask something like that.” Though honestly, she couldn’t tell if she was saying it because she wanted to or because she thought she had to. The truth was, she didn’t want to convince Tenko to take back her offer.

Either way, it didn’t end up mattering, because Tenko did no such thing. She simply smiled her confident smile and shook her head. “No, it’s not a problem at all. Don’t worry about it. I, Chabashira Tenko, the Ultimate Aikido Master, will protect you from now on! As a hero of justice, it’s my sworn duty to protect girls everywhere!”

There it was… that bold declaration again. Those words that made Mikan’s heart skip a beat whenever she heard them.

Hearing words like that… knowing that she had someone on her side, who would protect her… the feeling that gave Mikan could only be described as “hope.”

“T-Then… um…” Once again, Mikan bowed her head. “T-Thank you very much…!”

When she raised her head again, Tenko was smiling at her. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?”

This time, Mikan let her go.

* * *

 

True to her word, Tenko was waiting for Mikan outside her apartment the next morning. And the morning after that, and the one after that, and so on.

After extracting that promise to walk together, Mikan had been worried they wouldn’t have anything to talk about on their walks. She wasn’t a skilled conversationalist, as she was constantly reminded. Tenko was of course much better than her, but would she really be able to carry the conversation every time?

Luckily, the answer to that question turned out to be “Yes.” Most of the time, Mikan could get away with listening while Tenko did the talking. All she had to do was ask her a question, and Tenko would go on and on, sometimes for the entire rest of the walk.

Unsurprisingly, the subject Tenko was most passionate about was her neo-aikido. But since she was such a sociable and friendly person, Mikan figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask her about her classmates for a change.

Sure enough, Tenko talked about the people in her class with plenty of enthusiasm… though she did only seem to view the girls as worthy of discussion.

“There’s Akamatsu-san, who’s a really skilled piano player, and a really nice girl! There’s Harukawa-san, who’s kind of withdrawn and a little bit scary, but I can tell she means well. Then there’s Angie-san, who’s from a faraway island. She’s really religious. I don’t really get it, but she’s friends with Yumeno-san, and Yumeno-san is the best! She’s the cutest girl in the world! No, in the entire universe!” Tenko was bouncing with enthusiasm. “You wouldn’t believe what Yumeno-san did yesterday! Just yesterday, she…”

That was how Mikan ended up listening to how cute Tenko’s classmate was for a good fifteen minutes or so.

Mikan didn’t know how to feel about that. Although it was nice to see Tenko so excited, on some level, it made her feel bad to hear about how cute some other girl was. It was like… she wasn’t good enough, or something.

It triggered some of her worries. What if Tenko decided to stop going home from school with her, and start going with her cute classmate instead?

But she tried as best as she could to shove those feelings down.

“I see. She must be really cute, if Chabashira-san thinks so.” That was all Mikan said.

“Yes, definitely,” Tenko agreed, blissfully unaware of Mikan’s feelings. “Without a doubt, Yumeno-san is incredible! Did you know she can do real magic?”

“R-Real magic?”

“Yes! Her magic isn’t just tricks, it’s the real thing! Yumeno-san said so herself.”

Mikan… sort of doubted that was possible. But it probably wouldn’t make Tenko happy to hear that. So instead she told her, “That’s amazing. I’m glad you have so many great people in your class.”

“I’m glad as well! Although I would prefer it if my class was only girls.” Tenko sighed. “But I _guess_ the men in my class aren’t as bad as they could be either. It’s unfortunate that they’re men, but they are still my classmates.”

The conversation lulled for a moment as they waited for a light to change. After they started across the crosswalk, Tenko asked, “What about you, Tsumiki-san? Can I ask you a question too?”

“O-Okay!” Mikan said quickly. “I’ll tell you anything you want!”

“Uh, it’s not an interrogation,” Tenko reassured her. “I just wanted to know, what are your classmates like?”

Ah. Of course she’d want to know. It was natural, since Mikan had asked the same question.

Truthfully, being asked about that made Mikan a little uncomfortable… but then, being asked just about anything put her on edge. She was always afraid she’d say the wrong thing and end up hated.

“They’re nice,” Mikan said, trying to hide her anxiety. “They’re all really amazing.”

“I already know Koizumi-san and Mioda-san a little bit. They’re very nice girls. Is Tsumiki-san good friends with them?”

_Good friends…_

For someone like Tenko, that was a perfectly reasonable question to ask. But for someone like Mikan…

Such a thing was impossible. She couldn’t be good friends with Mahiru and Ibuki. She’d never been friends with anyone before.

But it was too hard to explain that. More importantly, she didn’t _want_ to explain it. Even though it was inescapable, she tried to remind herself of her own hopelessness as little as possible.

She should probably just lie.

“Um, Mioda-san is nice… she talks to me sometimes. Koizumi-san is nice, too,” Mikan said. “Although…”

“Although?”

Whoops. “U-Um, never mind!” Mikan said hastily. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

“No, it’s alright,” Tenko said. “What were you going to say?”

Mikan bit her lip. She really hadn’t meant to talk about this, but… “I just don’t… think I can be around Koizumi-san, really…”

“Hmm…” Tenko frowned. “I don’t know what you mean by that. Could you explain?”

“W-Well,” Mikan began awkwardly, “Koizumi-san is already friends with Saionji-san. And Saionji-san… doesn’t really like me, so…”

“Huh? That doesn’t make any sense,” Tenko said. “Tsumiki-san is a wonderful girl. Surely there’s no way somebody wouldn’t like you.”

_Ah, she called me “wonderful” again._

…somehow, it didn’t feel as good the second time.

Mikan wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the juxtaposition of being called wonderful with being told there’s no way somebody wouldn’t like her. She wanted to believe Tenko, but… it was just too ridiculous.

No way somebody wouldn’t like her? Of course there was a way.

Her entire life before coming at Hope’s Peak was proof of that. And even at Hope’s Peak, there was still somebody who hated her.

“If she liked me, I don’t think she’d call me ‘pig bitch’ all the time.”

“ _Pig bitch?!_ ”

“And whenever I try to say anything, she tells me I’m gross, or that I should stop breathing,” Mikan added. “If she liked me, I don’t think she’d say things like that. So…”

“That can’t be right!” Tenko said, looking almost as shocked as she had when Mikan told her about the cigarette burns. “A girl treating another girl so badly… that makes no sense at all. That’s the kind of behavior I’d expect from male degenerates, and male degenerates only!”

“My old school was an all-girls school, and the things they said to me there were a lot worse.” Said, and _did_ to her. All those injuries she had to treat…

Though, it was true that it wasn’t _just_ girls. Sometimes they got their brothers or their boyfriends involved. Those were some of her worst memories of all.

Mikan shook her head, trying to dispel those awful thoughts. She wasn’t going to talk about that right now. She’d already horrified Tenko with some of the things that were done to her at her old school. They were supposed to be talking about her classmates. And when it came to her classmates, her complaints were minimal. She had no right to complain at all, really, since she knew firsthand how much worse it could be. So…

“It’s fine,” Mikan said. “It’s nothing compared to what happened before. So, it doesn’t bother me.”

“…If it doesn’t bother you, then why did you tell me about it?”

Mikan froze.

“…Eh?”

Slowly, Mikan looked over at Tenko.

She had stopped walking. She had a serious look on her face – more serious than Mikan had ever seen her before. But it wasn’t a sad or angry expression this time. It wasn’t even accusatory. It was just… straightforward.

Her eyes were clear. When she said what she had to say next, Mikan knew she was speaking her true feelings.

“If it was really fine, you wouldn’t have thought it was worth mentioning, right?” Tenko said. “But you told me about it, because you want me to do something… that’s how I know you’re not telling the truth.”

Mikan’s stomach dropped out from under her.

Even though Tenko didn’t look accusatory, that sure sounded like an accusation.

She didn’t understand it, but clearly she’d done something wrong.

“I’m… I’m sorry I told you,” she said, suddenly on the verge of tears. She couldn’t believe she’d messed up their walk like this. “B-Burdening you with my problems was really terrible of me. I’m really, r-really sorry."

But when Tenko spoke next, she didn’t sound mad.

“It’s not a burden,” Tenko said. No, she didn’t sound mad at all… her voice sounded so _gentle_ , it made Mikan want to cry even more. “I want to know when something is bothering Tsumiki-san. Because, we’re friends, right?”

Mikan’s eyes widened. “F-Friends?” she repeated.

“Mm.” Tenko nodded. “I mean, we walk to school together every day, we tell each other things, and we go home together too… At this point, we’re definitely friends. Though…” Tenko paused. “You do want to me to be your friend, right? Like, you aren’t just looking for a bodyguard or something?” She sounded less confident now.

Mikan swallowed the lump in her throat. She took deep, shaky breaths, struggling to get herself under control.

But in the end, she couldn’t quite manage. She still looked and sounded like a wreck.

“I… I want to be friends,” she said, voice wobbling despite her efforts, tears rolling from the corners of her eyes down her cheeks. “I-If you’ll have me, I w-want to be friends more than a-anything.”

“…Alright.”

Tenko smiled at her, then – a real smile. A smile that felt more meaningful than all her others. A smile that was meant for only her.

Tenko looked… beautiful. She really did.

“Then, let’s be friends!” Tenko declared, shaking off the serious atmosphere. She was back to being her usual confident self. “Ah, I’m so glad to be friends with a wonderful girl like Tsumiki-san~”

Startled by the sudden compliment, Mikan gaped at her for a minute, before breaking into a giggle. It felt weird to laugh and cry at the same time. The range of emotions she’d gone through in this one conversation left her feeling a little dizzy. “Y-You keep calling me wonderful…”

“Because it makes you smile every time,” Tenko said. Mikan blushed, turning away from her.

For the first time in her life, she’d met someone who accepted her. Someone who thought she was wonderful. Someone she could call her friend.

For the first time in her life, Mikan realized how truly glad she was that she came to Hope’s Peak.

“Seriously though,” Tenko said after they resumed their walk, “Someone needs to talk some sense into that ‘Saionji’ girl. If Tenko throws her down really hard, maybe that’ll teach her?”

“That could lead to some injuries, so um, you probably shouldn’t do that,” Mikan said hastily. “A-And if you do it anyway, you should tell me, so I can give her the proper medical treatment afterwards!”

“You have a point…” Tenko frowned. “I’ll think of alternative strategies for dealing with bullies and get back to you later.”

They’d reached Mikan’s apartment. After the serious conversation they’d had, Mikan wondered if their parting would go a little differently today; if Tenko would mention any of the things they’d talked about.

But it went just the same as it had every other time.

“See you at school tomorrow,” Tenko said as she waved goodbye.

* * *

 

If Mikan had expected their relationship to change now that they’d officially become friends, her expectations went unmet. For the most part, things stayed the same.

Tenko walked her to school in the mornings, and walked her back home in the afternoons. During their walks, they talked about all sorts of things, from what happened in class that day to their respective talents.

Mikan couldn’t say she minded. On the contrary, the times when she was with Tenko were the times when she was happiest. She was overjoyed to have someone to call a friend, who told her about her day and asked to know about her day in return. Just having someone to talk to was a brand new experience for her.

But occasionally, she did find herself wondering if they would ever do anything besides walk together.

Friends did all sorts of things, after all. They went to cafes and karaoke rooms and the movies. That was what she’d always heard from the other girls at school, and what she always saw in stories. As early as elementary school, she could remember reading manga and children’s books about groups of friends, and wishing she had something like that for herself.

But if Tenko was too busy to do anything besides walk, then Mikan wasn’t going to make her spend time together otherwise.

About three weeks passed before there was an opportunity to hang out together outside their walks. Mikan was heading back from the infirmary when she ran into Tenko, who was talking to a girl she didn’t recognize. She still wasn’t comfortable talking to Tenko with other girls around, so she intended to leave before they spotted her, but…

“Ah, Tsumiki-san!” Tenko greeted her. “Hello.”

“H-Hello…” Mikan wasn’t looking at Tenko when she returned the greeting. Instead, she glanced nervously at the other girl.

“This is my friend, Asahina Aoi, the Ultimate Swimming Pro!” Tenko said proudly. “She’s my Master of the Sea!”

“Like I said, it’s a little embarrassing to be called ‘Master…’” The girl rubbed the back of her neck, smiling awkwardly.

“Oh, right. Sorry! What I mean is, she’s been giving me swimming lessons once a week after school. As embarrassing as it is, I never learned how to swim,” Tenko explained, flushing a little.

“Does your friend want to come with us?” Aoi asked, looking curiously at Mikan.

“Eh?” Mikan hadn’t even considered the idea.

Tenko joined in. “How about it? Do you enjoy swimming, Tsumiki-san?”

Mikan stared down at her feet. “Um, I know how, but… I’m not really good at that sort of thing…”

“Hmm, I see.” Tenko frowned in thought. “Then, how about lifeguarding?”

“Lifeguarding?” Mikan repeated, puzzled.

“Yeah. As a member of the health committee, you must know how to give CPR and stuff like that, right?”

“W-Well, yes…”

“Then, it’s settled!” Tenko declared. “Tsumiki-san, please be my lifeguard!”

“Um, I don’t think we need to worry about you drowning during our lessons or anything,” Aoi said. “But your friend is welcome to join us if she wants.”

“Would you like to come with us?” Tenko asked.

Mikan wasn’t convinced she’d make a good lifeguard. But the look on Tenko’s face was so earnest, she couldn’t have turned her down even if she wanted to.

“Alright. I-If you think I’ll be useful, then… I’ll come.”

* * *

 

“Ahhh, this feels refreshing.”

Tenko’s voice echoed off the tiles from inside one of the shower stalls. Aoi hadn’t followed them into the locker room; she’d stayed behind to practice some on her own.

“I may only be able to dog-paddle right now, but I can tell my skills are improving. Thanks again for keeping watch, Tsumiki-san. I felt totally safe knowing you’re there.”

“Um, thank you very much! I-I’m glad.”

Mikan was standing outside the stall. It felt a little awkward to communicate with the shower curtain in between them. She wasn’t even sure Tenko could heard her over the water. But because no dangerous situation had arisen, and there had been no reason for her to jump in the pool, Mikan had simply changed back out of her swimsuit without showering. There wasn’t any excuse for her to jump in there and join Tenko, or anything.

_Wait… w-what was that I just thought about?!_

“Something like s-sharing a bath goes beyond what friends do together anyway, right?” Mikan said to herself.

Though, that mental image sure was something.

With a groan, Mikan buried her burning face in her hands.

“Did you say something just now?” Tenko asked.

“N-N-Nothing!” Mikan squeaked out.

“Okay, if you say so.” Much to Mikan’s relief, Tenko accepted that without question.

After a minute, Tenko decided to strike up conversation again. “You know, I feel a little bad that you never got to go in the pool.  Are you sure you didn’t want to swim? It’s really fun once you get used to it! It’s great exercise, too.”

“It’s okay,” Mikan said without thinking. “I’m better at holding onto weights and sinking, anyway.”

“Holding onto weights and… _hang on, that sounds dangerous!_ ” Mikan heard the sound of the shower turning off. “What did you mean by that?”

“Um…” Mikan stared at her knees. Once again, she’d brought up something she hadn’t meant to. But she didn’t think she could get out of it now. “It was something they made me do at my old school.”

“Making you… hold weights?” Mikan heard some rustling noises.

She wasn’t sure it if it was okay for her to talk about this, but Tenko would probably be able to tell if she lied or changed the subject. So, quietly, she explained.

“It was something they made me do at my old school. They’d bring in weights from the other room and make me hold them, then push me into the pool… It was really entertaining for everyone, even the coach,” she added, because she felt like she needed to say something positive to make up for all the negativity.

Unfortunately, hearing that her suffering had at least proven entertaining didn’t seem to placate Tenko. In fact, it probably had the opposite effect.

“That’s… that’s terrible!”

In one move, the curtain was pushed back. Tenko stood there in the entrance to the shower with a towel wrapped across her body, and her long dark hair dripping wet behind her. She would have looked pretty, if it weren’t for the expression of utter horror on her face.

“That’s bullying,” Tenko said. “No, that’s beyond bullying! To think that something like that really happened to you…” Tenko hugged her arms, looking particularly vulnerable in her state of undress, and stared at the floor in dismay.

“I didn’t mind,” Mikan said quietly.

Tenko stared at her. “What?”

“I mean… I didn’t like doing it, but… it made everyone else laugh, s-so…” Mikan ducked her head, nervously avoiding Tenko’s gaze.

“Tsumiki-san…”

Tears welled up in Mikan’s eyes. She hadn’t meant to bring this sort of thing up again… why did she always say the wrong thing?

Though… Tenko did say she could talk to her about anything.

But maybe there were still some things she didn’t want to know.

“I-I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable,” she said. Except if she was really sorry, she probably wouldn’t keep doing it. “L-Let me make it up to you,” she said. Except all the things she could think to do were probably useless to Tenko. “I have some leftover lunch money, um, I-I can give that to you if you want.” That sounded weak even to her own ears.

She’d really messed up this time. The only thing to do was just go.

“I-I’ll, um, I’ll see you later—” she made a break for the door, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

“Tsumiki-san, come here.”

She was stunned into silence before she could protest.

A pair of arms encircled her. Tenko’s arms looped around her neck, wet against her skin, against her hair. Tenko’s body was soft through the damp fluffy towel. Her face pressed against the side of Mikan’s, her cheek wet and warm.

This… was a hug. Tenko had just hugged her.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been hugged.

“C-Chabashira-san?” Mikan squeaked once she regained her voice. “W-What are you--”

“I told you before… you don’t have to lie to me. Okay?” Tenko’s voice was soft, but Mikan heard it loud and clear, _felt it_ hot against the shell of her ear. “You don’t have to lie. You keep saying it wasn’t a big deal, all those horrible things that happened to you, but… I can tell you’re upset. Because, those things would upset anyone. And if they really were no big deal to you, I don’t think you’d be talking about them at all.”

Mikan was silent, though her heart was beating so loudly she wondered if Tenko could hear it. After a moment, Tenko pulled back just enough to face Mikan, almost forehead-to-forehead, her hands moving to brace Mikan’s shoulders. She spoke her next words looking directly into Mikan’s eyes.

“Tsumiki-san is a wonderful girl who didn’t deserve any of those things,” Tenko said firmly. “Okay?”

And then her serious expression melted into a sad, but encouraging smile.

“Do you get it now? If not… I’ll just say it over and over again until you understand,” Tenko declared. “Until one day, you can face your fears, and live life facing forward.”

Mikan was at a loss for words. She could only stare at the other girl in shock.

She’d never been told something like that before.

Hearing those words, combined with Tenko’s piercing gaze and the warm proximity of her body… it was overwhelming.

Not for the first time, Mikan felt like Tenko could see right through her. It was as though Tenko could recognize the weird, unsteady feeling in her chest for what it was. Like she would accept her no matter what.

Being seen for who she truly was… that thought was a little comforting and also a little scary.

“T-Thank you, Chabashira-san,” Mikan said eventually. She wasn’t sure what else to say.

“You’re welcome.” Tenko smiled at her. Her smile was less serious this time, more easygoing and familiar. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, though, before something seemed to dawn on her. Then it slipped off her face like water.

“ _Aahhh, your clothes!!_ ”

Much to Mikan’s relief and disappointment, Tenko immediately let go of her. She took several steps backwards. “I-I’m sorry I just did that out of nowhere! I totally forgot I was all wet and stuff!”

“I-It’s completely fine, d-don’t worry about it!” Mikan said, feeling equally flustered. “It’s not too wet, I-I’m sure it’ll dry right away.” The shoulders of her nurse’s uniform _were_ pretty damp, and a few drops of water had dripped down the front of her apron from Tenko’s hair, but it really wasn’t too bad. The towel had served as a barrier. Honestly… getting hugged by Tenko was worth it.

But she probably shouldn’t say that out loud.

“S-Still,” Tenko said, seeming at least a little placated, “what I did just now was probably too bold, huh…” For some reason, she was blushing.

“I-It’s okay!” Mikan exclaimed, though she was blushing too. “I d-didn’t mind.”

For some reason, Tenko let out an odd groaning noise at that. “M-Mm. O-Okay, um, g-good.” She fidgeted with her towel, tugging it up more over her chest. Before today, Mikan had never seen her blush before. It was pretty cute.

“I’m also sorry for making you wait for me,” Tenko continued bashfully. “I’ll go get dressed and then we can go home, okay?”

Mikan blinked. “Don’t you need to dry your hair first?”

“Ahh, that’s okay.” Tenko waved her off. “It’s so long, it always takes forever to dry. I won’t make you wait that long. It’ll dry on its own.”

“N-No.” Mikan shook her head. “I can’t let you do that. Even though it’s been warming up lately, you could still catch a cold if you go outside with wet hair.”

“I-I see.” Tenko grimaced, but seemed to acknowledge she’d been defeated. “Then, I guess I’m going to keep you waiting even longer. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Mikan insisted. She proceeded to watch as Tenko went over to the locker she’d left her things in. She emerged with a hairbrush, a comb and a dryer. Then she walked over to the sinks. Before she could turn the dryer on, Mikan quickly offered, “Um, would you like me to help you?”

“Help me?” Tenko asked, looking over her shoulder. “With what?”

“W-With your hair,” Mikan clarified. “I thought it might go faster that way.” But, with a sinking feeling, she realized that might not be a normal thing to offer. She had no idea what girls usually helped each other with in the locker room, and what they left to themselves. At her old school, she’d always left the locker rooms as fast as she could, before someone decided to try something like stealing all her clothes again.

Anxiously, Mikan added, “B-But if it was a weird suggestion, then I’m really sorry for saying anything.”

“N-No, it’s fine…” Tenko said, but she sounded kind of unsure. “It’s just, um…”

Mikan held her breath, waiting to hear that she’d done something awful to make Tenko uncomfortable. The words that came next were not what she expected.

“I’ve never… done that kind of thing with a girl before.”

Mikan stared at her. “Eh?”

Tenko was blushing again. “You know… d-doing each other’s make-up, trying on each other’s clothes, braiding each other’s hair… that sort of thing.” She nervously fidgeted with the hair dryer, face beet red as she admitted, “I’ve always wanted to do stuff like that.”

That… really was not what Mikan had expected.

She’d always thought Tenko was much more popular than her. Someone so sunny and energetic and kind, who could talk to people easily, must have lots of friends. It seemed like a reasonable assymption. Tenko got along with the girls in Mikan’s class better than Mikan herself did, after all… though that wasn’t really saying much.

All along, Mikan had thought that she was the only one who was abnormal; the only one who hadn’t had regular high school girl experiences, like sleepovers and karaoke and trips to the mall with friends. The other girls in school were friends with each other, and they did all sorts of fun things together. Mikan had always assumed she was the only one excluded, the only one not invited.

But hearing Tenko say that she hadn’t done those sorts of things either… it made Mikan wonder if maybe she wasn’t really that strange.

“I’ve never done anything like that, either,” she said honestly.

“Then…” Tenko smiled. “I guess we’ll do it together.”

She gestured for Mikan to come over, so she did – though her heart was racing a little bit now. “Um… here’s a brush, if you want to get started on that side,” Tenko said, separating her hair into two parts like always. “Sorry it’s so long.”

“I think it looks really pretty that way,” Mikan blurted.

At that, Tenko made a strange noise –kind of like a gurgling sound. Mikan had to look in the mirror to make sure she was okay.

“P…P…Pretty?!” Tenko stammered. She was hardly able to get the word out. Her face was bright red.

“Y-Yes,” Mikan said, confused by that reaction.

“That’s…” Tenko squeezed her eyes shut. “S-Stop it, that’s not right.”

“Eh?” Mikan’s eyes widened.

“I-I’m not pretty or anything at all,” Tenko protested, waving her hands in front of her face. She didn’t seem to be paying attention to the hairdryer anymore, which was currently blowing the left side of her hair every which way as she waved it around in the air. “Whenever I eat or drink anything sour, my face gets all ugly and wrinkled. And whenever I wipe my face with a towel, my eyelids flip inside out.”

“U-Um… I see.” Mikan wasn’t sure what to make of those weird examples. “But… I think you’re really beautiful.”

“ _BEAUTIFUL?!_ ”

Tenko’s reaction to being told _that_ was so strong and so physical that Mikan had to wonder for a second if she had a medical emergency on her hands.

After ascertaining that Tenko was not, in fact, having a fit over being called beautiful, Mikan continued. “Even right now, with your make-up washed off and stuff, I think you look amazing.”

“Aaaahh, come on…” Tenko moaned. “I’m not pretty, or beautiful… as a master of neo-aikido, there’s no need to be beautiful anyway…”

With the way she had her arms raised in front of her, she looked like she was fending off an attacker. Maybe this wasn’t just modesty – maybe Mikan had said the wrong thing again.

“I see…” Mikan cast her eyes down. “S-Sorry for forcing my opinion on you.”

“Ah, i-it’s not like that,” Tenko said quickly. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“No, um, I’ll try to do better,” Mikan said, gathering up some determination. “I’ll think of better ways to compliment you. Like saying you’re really strong, or cool – _owww!_ ”

“S-S-Sorry!” Tenko cried. When Mikan said she was strong and cool, Tenko had accidentally dropped the hairdryer in apparent shock. It landed on Mikan’s foot.

“I didn’t break your toe or anything, did I?!” Tenko bent down to retrieve the hairdryer.

“No, I’m sure you didn’t!” Mikan quickly reassured her, flailing her arms a little in her helplessness. “I’ve had my toe broken many times before, and that’s not what it feels like!”

“It makes me kind of depressed to hear that…” Tenko rose from the floor, holding her towel closed. “Anyway, um… even though I don’t think I’m p-pretty or cool or anything…” Tenko flushed deeply once again. “It still made me happy to hear you say that. So, um… you don’t have to apologize.”

“Really?” Mikan asked. She hardly dared to believe her ears. “It really made you happy?” Tenko nodded. “I’m glad…” Once again, she could feel a warmth spreading from the center of her body.

And with that, they resumed drying Tenko’s hair.

“Tsumiki-san is still prettier and cooler than me though,” Tenko said a few minutes later.

Mikan’s head swam with a now-familiar mixture of happiness and embarrassment.

“Ehehehe…”

* * *

 

“ _Rise and shine, ursine!_ ”

A couple of weeks later, Mikan stood in the gym, surrounded by her classmates. It was a Monday morning. Her entire class had been called down for an announcement of some sort – and so, it appeared, had both of the other third-year classes.

Mikan had immediately looked around the gym for Tenko, and eventually she spotted her. Based on what Tenko had told her about her classmates, she assumed the two girls Tenko was talking to were Himiko and Angie. She was still watching Tenko from afar when the Monokubs made their entrance.

“You’re probably wondering why we’ve called you here today,” Monotarou addressed them after everyone had quieted down. “It’s because we have a very special announcement.”

“It has come to our attention that graduation is only a few months away,” Monosuke said. “As third-year students, this means your remaining time at the school is limited.”

“Ohhh noo!” Monophanie cried. “How sad!”

“VE-RY SAD IN-DEED,” Monodam agreed in his robotic voice.

“But you know what would be even sadder?” Monotarou asked. “If you kids graduated without making any more awesome memories! That’s why, for all you third-year students at Hope’s Peak Academy, we’ve decided to host our own special event. Put your hands together for the first ever, once-in-a-lifetime, Hope’s Peak Academy Senior Dance!”

“There’s gonna be killer music! Death music from HELL!” Monokid yelled, strumming his guitar. “It’s gonna be a rockin’ good time!”

“And the student council has already designed some invites for you kids to use if you wanna ask that special someone to the dance!” Monotarou announced. “You can just slip that sucker into the each other’s shoe lockers like a love letter. Talk about super convenience!”

“Kyaaa~ A love letter?!” Monophanie blushed.

“So, that’s about the short of it,” Monosuke explained. “Tickets are going to be on sale during lunch this week and next week, so make sure to bring some money. Invitations will also be available in the cafeteria every day.”

“I hope you appreciate this nice thing we’re doing for you all! BYE-KUMA!”

And with that, they were gone as suddenly as they’d first appeared.

A few moments of silence followed their exit, which soon gave way to excited murmuring. Everyone wanted to talk about what they’d just heard.

“A school dance?” Mahiru mused.

“With _killer death music from hell_?! Gghhh!” Unable to contain her excitement, Ibuki started to foam at the mouth. “This is gonna be so cool! This is gonna be like, fifty different kinds of awesome!”

“Hmph,” Hiyoko grumbled, putting on a show of being unimpressed. “I guess I’ll have to go just to show all these amateurs how it’s done. Not like anyone else at this school can dance.” She moved her gaze over to Mikan, and then her lips curved into a smirk. “Too bad no one’s gonna want to invite pig barf over there.”

Mikan didn’t respond. In fact, she didn’t even hear her. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts.

_A school dance for only the third years…?_

Slowly, Mikan looked around the room, seeking Tenko. Mikan found her, saw her talking excitedly with her classmates again. She was smiling at the small red-haired girl, looking a little flustered.

_You invite the person you want to go with… right?_

Unexpectedly, Mikan had walked right into her toughest challenge yet.

Trying to get Tenko alone wasn’t it. Asking her to walk home together wasn’t it. Becoming friends wasn’t it, either.

 _This_ was it. The final test.

Though her heart was pounding and she felt feverish with anxiety already, Mikan knew she couldn’t lose now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 2. This chapter is maybe not the most pleasant read overall, but hopefully the ending makes up for it. Also, I found (flimsy) excuses to write cameos of everyone's favorite pervy inventor and lying juggalo, so there's that.
> 
> I have Chapter 3 planned out, but I haven't really started writing it. Not sure when it'll be done. I am going to make an effort to finish this before 2018, though. But no promises.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left comments and kudos on Chapter 1!

True to the Monokubs’ morning announcement, there was a table selling tickets to the third-year dance set up in the cafeteria that same day. The table was manned by Usami, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, by 77-B’s own class rep, Chiaki. In addition to the tickets, the table also had invitations laid out on it, which the third-years were free to take. They were white cards with pink hearts all over them, leaving no question as to who designed them. Usami looked proud of her work.

Mikan was scared.

Scared to approach the table in front of everyone at lunch, scared to buy tickets, scared to take an invitation. At her old school, they definitely wouldn’t have let her get away with it: with being presumptuous enough to think that she belonged at a school dance. Or worse, being presumptuous enough to think that there was somebody out there who would _actually say yes_ if she invited them.

It might be more accurate to say she was intimidated. She wasn’t truly scared that someone would bully her if she took an invitation. The only person who might give her a hard time about it was Hiyoko, and Hiyoko never ate in the cafeteria anyway. After spending so long there, Mikan had to acknowledge by now that Hope’s Peak wasn’t the kind of place where she was in any real danger.

After spending so long there…

Mikan remembered what the Monokubs had said about how their remaining time at the school was limited. As a third year, she had less than two months left.

It was kind of sad to admit that even though she was almost done with her time at Hope’s Peak, she’d only made a friend for the first time recently. Other people in her class had formed strong bonds early on. Mikan had to imagine that Fuyuhiko and Peko already knew who they’d be attending the dance with. Nekomaru and Akane must know, too. They probably didn’t even have to ask.

Mikan had always longed for that sort of unspoken, unbreakable bond. But until recently, such a thing had seemed completely beyond her reach.

Shoving down her anxieties, Mikan approached the table. She didn’t have any money to buy tickets with today, but she could at least pick up a free invitation.

“Tsumiki-san!” Usami exclaimed. “How nice to see you!”

“Good afternoon,” Mikan said. Slowly, her eyes drifted over from Usami to Chiaki, who appeared to be fast asleep in the chair next to her. A thin stream of drool trickled from her mouth.

“Oh goodness, I’m sorry about her rudeness,” Usami said. “Chiaki-chan!” she scolded. “You shouldn’t be falling asleep on the job!”

Chiaki didn’t say anything. She just snored.

“Honestly… Well, what can I get for you, Tsumiki-san?”

“Um… I-I was just going to take an invitation,” Mikan said, reaching timidly for the stack of white and pink cards.

“Go right ahead!” Usami beamed. “It makes me really glad to see you have someone to go to the dance with!”

Rather than serving to encourage her, those words made Mikan’s heart sink a little bit.  She felt that was getting too ahead of things – to assume right away that Tenko would accept.

“Um, t-thank you.” Carefully, she tucked the invitation in the front pocket of her apron. She was about to walk away when she heard—

“Tsumiki-san?”

Mikan jumped a little. “Y-Yes?”

“Is it true?” Chiaki asked, sounding a little groggy as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes with her sleeve. “Are you going to the school dance?”

Mikan nodded hesitantly. “H-Hopefully, yes.”

“I’m glad.” Chiaki smiled at her – she still looked tired, but at the same time, she looked like she really meant it. “Monomi-chan and I planned this event so that everyone could have fun. So, if all my classmates can enjoy it, I’ll be really happy.”

Unsure of what to say to that, Mikan just nodded again. She knew she should praise Chiaki for all her hard work, and say how grateful she is, or something like that… but walking up to the table had caused a weird, uncomfortable feeling to settle in her chest, and more than anything she just wanted it to go away.

“Thank you, Nanami-san,” she said, then left the cafeteria.

* * *

Much like in the first few days of their friendship, Mikan found that the rest of the day went by in a blur, as she waited to go home together with Tenko. All she could think about was what she’d say to Tenko on their walk. How was she going to invite her to the dance? Did she really have the guts to do it in the first place?

More than anything, Mikan thought it would be nice for Tenko to invite her herself. But that was probably hoping for too much.

When it came time to walk home, Mikan found herself unsure how to broach the subject to Tenko. All she could do was half-listen while the other girl talked about something amazing that Himiko had done earlier. Listen, and wait for an opportunity to change the subject to the school dance.

“…and it was really, really cute! You should have seen it, Tsumiki-san.”

“Wow,” Mikan said automatically. “I wish I’d seen it too.” Though honestly, she hadn’t caught what “it” even was.

“I’ll have to introduce you to Yumeno-san and Angie-san some time,” Tenko said. “All my friends should be your friends, after all.”

Mikan… wasn’t sure that was a good idea.

She was grateful every day that Tenko found her likeable, but she knew most people didn’t see her the way Tenko did. What if Tenko’s friends hated her? What if they told Tenko not to bother wasting her time with her anymore?

As long as she had Tenko, Mikan didn’t see the need to meet any new people.

But she knew that Tenko wouldn’t agree. Voicing those thoughts would just disappoint her. So instead, Mikan said, “Okay. I’ll work hard to become friends with whoever you want me to.”

Something about that response didn’t seem to sit right with Tenko. “That wasn’t a challenge or an order or anything,” she said. “It’s just that I can already tell you’ll get along great.”

Mikan demurred. She had her doubts, but she didn’t vocalize them.

“Anyway, you’ve just been listening to me go on and on,” Tenko said. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

This it. This was her chance.

Mikan fought through the sudden onslaught of nerves to get out the words she needed to say.

“Um… a-about the school dance…” Apparently that was as far as she could get. She didn’t manage to actually finish her question.

For some reason, Tenko stiffened beside her. When she spoke next, she was stammering.

“Ah… the s-school dance, huh…?” She was blushing again, too. The last time Mikan saw her blush like that was when she told her she was beautiful.

“Are you going with anyone?” Mikan asked. She was highly conscious of the invitation still sitting in her apron pocket. She hadn’t had the courage to leave it in Tenko’s locker, not without talking to her first.

“U-Um…” Tenko was getting more flustered by the minute. “H-Hopefully, I will be, but… I don’t know for sure yet. I need to do some mental training, so I can ask properly.”

Mikan’s eyes widened. “You’re going to ask someone?”

“Th…That was the idea, anyway…”

“Who is it?” Mikan pressed her.

Tenko didn’t respond for a minute. She seemed to be gathering her thoughts. But eventually she did speak, her voice quiet yet clear. “A really cute, amazing girl,” Tenko said. “A girl who I’m proud to call my friend. Just…” She looked at Mikan, red-faced. “I d-didn’t pick up an invitation in the cafeteria today, so um, I can’t formally ask yet.”

A girl Tenko was friends with. A girl who was “cute” and “amazing.”

Those specific words had never been used to describe her. But she had heard Tenko use them, repeatedly, to describe someone else.

Suddenly, it all fit together.

Mikan wondered what kind of face she must be making as her heart broke into pieces.

“Tsumiki-san?” Tenko asked. Mikan realized she’d stopped walking. “Are you alright?”

Tenko looked concerned, but only mildly. Mostly she just looked curious. Clearly, she didn’t recognize the seriousness of what she’d just done.

Mikan realized that it had been wrong of her to assume that Tenko could see through her, could understand her innermost thoughts and hidden feelings. What a presumptuous thing to think. She’d gotten ahead of herself again.

“I’m fine,” she lied. “Sorry for worrying you.”

* * *

That night, Mikan couldn’t sleep. She lay in bed staring at the ceiling in the dark.

No matter what she did, no matter how many times she reminded herself that she shouldn’t have had any expectations to start with, she couldn’t escape her disappointment. She should have known better than to hope, but she was still devastated anyway.

Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Mage. Of course.

She should have known from the beginning. Almost every day during their walk home, Tenko brought up something Himiko had done earlier that was so cute, so amazing, so wonderful. Some of the things she told Tenko about weren’t even impressive, but that didn’t matter. Even if it was something as thoroughly mundane as eating a snack or falling asleep during class, when Himiko did it, Tenko considered it worthy of praise and excitement.

Tenko didn’t love her. She loved Himiko Yumeno.

Yes, Mikan should have figured it out long ago… but truthfully, it wasn’t that she couldn’t tell, it was that she didn’t _want_ to see it. She purposefully tried to convince herself the signs didn’t mean what they thought she meant. She went into denial, altering the reality of the situation to something more convenient for her.

 _How presumptuous_ , Mikan thought, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow. She wanted to disappear.

Himiko was smaller and cuter than her. Mikan knew. Even though she’d only seen her from a distance, she could tell how cute the other girl was. Even if she’d never seen her at all, she would have known. Tenko praised Himiko’s cuteness all the time.

Himiko was prettier than her, too, probably. No, definitely. Tenko had called Mikan pretty before, but she surely found Himiko even prettier. For every time she called Mikan pretty, she probably called Himiko pretty ten times more.

Himiko was nicer than her. Himiko was smarter than her. Himiko was more talented than her. Himiko’s talent was something amazing: magic. Something that brought joy and wonder to crowds of people. Mikan’s talent, on the other hand, was something that made people feel gross and disgusted. There were times when she was useful, of course, times when people needed her, but her talent wasn’t something that brought smiles to people’s faces. If somebody required Mikan’s talent, that meant they were hurt or ill, which meant they were in a bad mood. Nobody was ever happy to see Mikan.

Himiko was everything Mikan wasn’t. She was somebody who lit up a room, somebody who made people happy, with her cuteness and her amazing talent. She must have tons of friends. She must have no trouble winning people’s love. Someone like her would never have to worry about being bullied, about being excluded, about being unwanted.

Yes, somebody like Himiko would have no trouble finding love. She probably had no shortage of admirers, in addition to friends.

So… why did she have to steal away Mikan’s one chance at happiness?

Mikan hugged her pillow tighter. She remembered the last time she’d been like this, that day in the infirmary. The day that Tenko had called her wonderful, and her entire world came crashing down.

No matter what… she couldn’t give up now. She couldn’t let everything slip away from her; not when she’d finally found someone who would accept her. Her entire life, she’d been waiting for somebody like Tenko to come along.

But what could she possibly do about Tenko’s feelings for Himiko? Once Tenko found a second to go and pick up an invitation, she was going to invite Himiko to the school dance.

Mikan fisted her hands tight in the sheets.

There was absolutely no way she could let that happen.

She had to keep Tenko, by any means necessary.

* * *

This wasn’t the first time Mikan had spent her morning break time anxiously checking to see if Tenko was in her classroom, but it was the first time she was glad to see the other girl _wasn’t_ there.

Unfortunately, the real person she was looking for didn’t seem to be there either.

Tenko hadn’t gone into much detail when describing him, since she didn’t enjoy talking about the boys in her class. Nonetheless, she _had_ described him, however briefly. And Mikan didn’t see any small boys wearing a scarf.

Nervous as always, but knowing she couldn’t afford to back down, Mikan walked into Tenko’s classroom and approached the person sitting closest to the door. A girl who wore goggles… Mikan assumed she was Miu Iruma.

“Who the hell are you?” the girl asked as soon as Mikan walked up to her. She sounded pretty grouchy. “What’s with that get-up? You trying to appeal the nurse fetishists or something?” She looked Mikan’s clothes up and down in unflattering disbelief.

“N-No,” Mikan said, a little startled. “I am a nurse.” Unfortunately, the girl didn’t seem to hear her.

“And what’s with your hair?” Miu continued. “Looks like some blind toddlers cut it for you in the dark.”

Mikan bit her lip. Tenko hadn’t said much about Miu Iruma – just that she was very smart, but also “a little hard to get along with sometimes.” Mikan hadn’t known what she’d meant by that, but she wasn’t quite expecting this type of response. This girl seemed just like Hiyoko so far. She was starting to feel a little agitated.

“U-Um… c-can you tell me where Ouma Kokichi-san is?”

“That gremlin twink?” Miu spat out, seemingly disgusted at the mention of him. “Fuck if I know. He’s probably jacking off in the bathroom to some porn mag. The hell do you want a guy like that for?”

Mikan wilted. There wasn’t any way she could tell Miu the truth about why she wanted to talk to him. “I just need to ask him about something, so…”

“Wait, don’t tell me… you’re not goin’ to confess to _that_ guy, are you?!” Miu asked, in apparent shock.

“N-No, that’s not—” Mikan tried to deny it, but was interrupted when Miu threw back her head and laughed loudly and obnoxiously at her own joke.

“Kyahaha! You’d make a perfect couple! Two purple-headed idiots together!”

Mikan wasn’t sure what made her snap. By that point, Miu’s other classmates were starting to look over at them, and it was really making her uncomfortable. That was part of it. But the other part may have been that love confessions was a sensitive subject for her right now, and definitely not something she wanted to be teased about.

“I-I told you, it’s not like that at all!” Mikan insisted. “I just need to talk to him about something, so, please just tell him someone was looking for him when he gets back, o-okay?!”

Whoops, she hadn’t meant to yell like that.

Mikan took a minute to calm down. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Slowly, she opened her eyes to look at Miu.

The sight that greeted her was… not what she’d been expecting.

 “F-Fine…” Miu was trembling. Her eyes were wide and frozen with fear. “I’ll tell him you were looking for him… w-what else do you want?” she stammered. “Y-You want me to arrange a meeting time and stuff? I can do that too… just…” She looked at Mikan pleadingly. “D-Don’t yell at me again…”

And that was how Mikan secured a meeting time with Kokichi Ouma after school on one of the quiet corners of the track field.

Still a little stunned, she left Tenko’s classroom and headed back to her own. As she walked down the hall, she noticed she had a bit of a spring in her step. As she turned into her classroom, she realized she was even smiling a little.

Holding power over someone else, and hearing someone plead with her like that… it had felt really good.

* * *

“So, what brings you here, Tsumiki-chan?”

“Y-You know my name?”

“Well, of course I do,” Kokichi said, utterly carefree. “I’m an evil supreme leader, so I have a lot of connections.”

Mikan wasn’t sure where to start with that, but she didn’t care enough to ask anyway. “I see… U-Um… there’s something I wanted to ask…”

“Shoot!”

Mikan cut straight to the point. “Do you know how to pick locks?”

To her surprise, Kokichi glared at her, looking so unfriendly that it made her shrink back in fear. “Pick locks?!” he repeated, incredulous. “That’s breaking the law, you know! Just what kind of person do you think I am, huh? There’s no way I’d eeeever do something that goes against the rules!” he said. He looked deeply offended.

Mikan just stared at him.

“Um… is that a lie?”

“Well, yeah.” Kokichi readily agreed, reverting back to his friendly stance from before. “Of course that was a lie.”

After shaking that off, Mikan took a deep breath and pressed forward. “I-If you can get me something that’ll let me pick one of the locks on people’s lockers, then, I’ll do anything you want.”

“Oho.” Kokichi’s carefree expression morphed into a devilish grin. “Anything?”

Mikan swallowed. “Y-Yes.”

“It’s pretty brave of you to say that to an evil supreme leader,” Kokichi drawled. “I could ask you to do something reaaally dangerous, like kneel on a hot burning plate, or play Russian Roulette with five bullets in the chamber. Are you sure you can handle something like that?”

“Yes,” she said again, more firm in her conviction this time. Whatever it was, it was worth it to keep Tenko by her side.

Kokichi’s grin grew even wider. “Then it seems we have ourselves a deal.”

* * *

Two hours later, she returned to their meeting place with the specified items.

“Well?” He asked. “Do you have the goods?”

“I have all the things you asked for, yes,” Mikan said, still feeling confused.

“Good.” Kokichi reached out to take the bulging bag from her and slung it over his small shoulder. “Thanks for doing my shopping for me, Tsumiki-chan. In return, I have the thing you’ve asked me for, too!”

And with that, he slipped a small item out from underneath his scarf and offered it to Mikan. It was a metal ring with a single, oddly-shaped key dangling from it.

Hesitantly, Mikan accepted it from him. “Is this…?”

“It’s a special key that you can use to unlock any lock,” Kokichi explained. “I stole it from a thief during a heist.”

“Y-You stole it?!”

“Mm-hmm! You see,” Kokichi excitedly launched into an explanation, “Me and my secret organization had our eyes on this really huge diamond that was being stored in a museum in Tokyo. We had everything planned out and our plan seemed like it was going to go off without a hitch, but then it turned out another thief had the same idea as us at the exact same time on the exact same day. Our hands brushed when we reached to unlock the door at the same moment… that’s when I stole his special key. Pretty amazing story, right? Right?” Kokichi asked her eagerly.

Mikan felt like there were at least a few things off about that story. “Um… Was that another lie, by any chance?”

“Yeah, it was a lie,” Kokichi agreed readily. For all the effort he put into that tale, he didn’t seem remotely upset she burst his bubble. “I had Iruma-chan make it for me my first year here. That girl may be an ugly dumb bitch, but she is good for some things. Kind of like how a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

So… the Ultimate Inventor made it for him. That meant it must actually work.

“Is it really okay for me to accept such an amazing item?” Mikan asked. Sure, she bought all the things he’d asked for, but she still didn’t see how Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards, a seven-piece dice set, Sukiyaki Caramels, grape soda and a nerf gun were equivalent in value to a key that could unlock any lock. She couldn’t figure out what a supreme leader would need with those things, either.

But Kokichi assuaged her concerns. “Mm! I have a spare at home. And besides…” Kokichi’s lips curved into a sinister grin. “You’re not gonna use it for anything bad, riiight?”

Mikan was suddenly terrified. “R-Right!” she squeaked. “O-O-Of course not!”

“Haah…” Kokichi sighed. “It’s a little disappointing, knowing you’re just going to use it to deal with your romantic problems, and not for a super sinister crime.”

Mikan felt like she’d received a blow to the head. “E-Ehhh?!”

“The school dance is coming up, right?  And you want to go with Chabashira-chan, the person you’ve been walking home with every day after school,” Kokichi said matter-of-factly. “But you can tell her heart’s already set on someone else, so you’re going to open that person’s locker and steal Chabashira-chan’s invitation away before that other girl can see it… right?” Kokichi asked, watching her expression change from anxiety to full-blown panic. “I’m right on the money, aren’t I?”

“T-That’s… u-um…” Mikan began, casting around helplessly for an alternative explanation, but in the end nothing came to her. She couldn’t believe he’d seen right through her like that… just where had he gotten his information from?

“Ah, so I really did have it right,” Kokichi said.

“I-It was just a guess?!”

Kokichi sighed again in exaggerated disappointment. “Seriously, how boring...”

Still feeling shocked, Mikan staggered away from him. She didn’t feel safe here any longer. It wasn’t just that he correctly guessed what she planned to do … no, more than that, what made her feel uncomfortable was somebody knowing about the feelings she hid deep inside. Her feelings for Tenko were something personal to her. Something she hadn’t shared with anyone, not even Tenko herself.

“You know, you could just tell her how you feel!” Kokichi called out after her back. “That’d save you a looot of trouble! Even a liar like me thinks that would be the right thing to do.”

Some part of her wanted to believe him: that if she just told Tenko she needed her more than Himiko did, everything would work out. That everything would be fine, and Tenko would choose her instead.

But no – even if that was a possibility, she couldn’t risk being wrong. The stakes were too high. Losing Tenko was something she absolutely couldn’t afford.

And besides, it’s not like anything had ever worked out for Mikan so easily before.

“Thank you for the key,” she mumbled and headed on her way.

* * *

The school dance quickly became a major topic of conversation among the third-years, as well as some of the students in lower grades. Rumors flew around about who was going with whom, and who had been seen leaving an invitation in whose locker. There were quite a few dramatic scenes. The biggest commotion in Mikan’s class came when Kazuichi returned from the cafeteria with an invitation in hand, only to find Sonia already talking to Gundam about coordinating their outfits.

Mikan had to be careful when checking Himiko’s locker throughout the day. The first time she did it, on Wednesday, her hands trembled as she turned the key in the lock. She’d waited around for a while beforehand, until everyone was well and truly gone from the lockers, but she couldn’t shake the fear that someone would see her.

With a click, the lock yielded and the door popped open. After checking to make sure the coast was clear one last time, Mikan peered inside.

There was nothing. No invitation. Just a few colorful notebooks, some candy in a plastic jar, a change of shoes, and a water bottle.

_A water bottle and candy…_

All of a sudden, it struck Mikan how much power she had right now. She could easily slip something in Himiko’s water or her food. Something that would make her sick, and therefore unable to come to school, and therefore unable to get asked to the dance by Tenko. There were things she could use in the infirmary, things that were discreet. All she’d have to do was make a quick trip down the hall.

She wouldn’t even look suspicious. She was the Ultimate Nurse, after all. The only problem was…

Doing something like that would make her lower than dirt.

But, in order to prevent Tenko from leaving her for someone else, it might be worth crossing that line.

With a sick feeling in her chest, Mikan shut the locker. She wasn’t sure what had come over her, thinking something like that.

Poisoning Himiko, trying to get her sick… she wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t.

Or at least… she’d only do it as a last resort.

The heavy, uneasy feeling in Mikan’s chest persisted throughout the remainder of the day. When she made another trip to secretly check Himiko’s locker again, it got even worse. During the walk home from school, she reverted to nodding and half-listening while Tenko spoke.

“Is something wrong?” Tenko asked. “You’re being kinda quiet today.”

Mikan shook her head. “N-No, nothing is wrong. Sorry for worrying you.”

* * *

On Thursday, there was still no invitation from Tenko in Himiko’s locker.

On the one hand, that was a relief. On the other hand, Mikan didn’t understand why.

She’d seen Tenko go to the cafeteria earlier. Shouldn’t she have picked one up by now?

But then… it was possible Tenko was still working up the courage to ask. She had said she needed some time to do that.

It was also possible Tenko had decided to forgo the invitations entirely and just ask Himiko in-person, like Sonia had done with Gundam the other day. The thought gave Mikan a lot of anxiety. She couldn’t be there during Tenko’s classes; there wasn’t anything she could do to keep her apart from Himiko.

It was times like this when Mikan became painfully aware of how powerless she was. When she could almost _feel_ Tenko slipping away from her.

And it was times like this when tampering with Himiko’s food and water seemed like a tempting idea. No matter how wrong she knew it was.

Did it matter that it was wrong?

Did it matter that doing something like that would make her a bad person?  Didn’t having these thoughts in the first place make her a bad person anyway?

Mikan wasn’t sure. All she knew was that, no matter what, she couldn’t lose Tenko.

* * *

The next day, during their morning walk, Mikan made up her mind to ask.

“Chabashira-san, um… I was wondering…”

Tenko tossed her a look over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

“When are you going to ask out the girl you like?”

Predictably, Tenko blushed furiously. The sight was endearing, and it made her happy, but it also made her terribly sad, knowing that blush wasn’t for her. The toxic concoction of emotions created a sick feeling in her stomach.

“Um, I-I’m not sure.” Tenko ducked her head down, the back of her ears red. “B-But now that you mention it, um… I guess I should do it today.”

Mikan’s heart skipped a beat. “Today?”

“Y-Yeah… I mean, no sense wasting time, right? Like my Master says, it’s best to strike when the iron is hot. So, today…” Tenko’s took a deep breath, balling her hands into fists at her sides. “I’ll definitely do it.”

By that point, Mikan’s heart had hardened so much that hearing Tenko declare her intent to ask out someone else only hurt a little bit.

At least she knew to act fast.

* * *

Mikan checked Himiko’s locker at every possible interval. She checked during first period. She checked during third period. She excused herself early to check before lunch began, and she was late to class checking again when lunch was over. She checked when she was supposed to be at gym, and she checked during her classes in the afternoon, too. Yukizome-sensei looked a little concerned when she excused herself to the bathroom for a third time and once again didn’t return for about fifteen minutes.

She didn’t care. It didn’t matter what the teacher thought of her, or what her classmates thought, either. All that mattered was keeping Himiko from receiving Tenko’s invitation to the dance. She couldn’t think about anything else.

Over the course of the day, Mikan unraveled more and more. Her handwriting got sloppier. Her performance in gym was abysmal; not a minute seemed to go by without her tripping over her own two feet. By the end of the day, she wasn’t even trying to come up with an answer when the teacher called on her. She sat in her seat, silently staring down at her desk, trying to ignore everyone’s gaze as she waited for Yukizome-sensei to give up and ask someone else.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy.

“Tsumiki-chan, is something wrong?” Yukizome-sensei asked. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

She didn’t, but she also didn’t feel like pretending to pay attention in class, either.

“M-Maybe I’ll go,” she mumbled, rising from her desk.

“Do you need someone to escort you? Here, Nanami-chan can—”

“It’s fine. I’ll go by myself.”

“…Alright, if you’re sure.” Yukizome-sensei relented, but she still looked concerned. “I’ll trust your judgement as a member of the health committee.”

And that was how Mikan found herself laid up in the infirmary with half an hour until the end of the school day, even though she wasn’t ill.

She couldn’t help but remember the last time she was like this, after she first met Tenko. It was hard to believe it had been over a month since then. She could still remember all of it vividly: those strong hands that caught her in midair; that confident smile; those wonderful words that had changed everything.

“I’m sure it’s no big deal to tell that to a wonderful girl like you, Tsumiki-san.”

So much had changed since then.

 And yet, it also felt like nothing had changed at all.

There had been times when Mikan thought her friendship with Tenko was helping her become a stronger person. But now, in the throes of her anxiety, she felt dismayed at the realization that she hadn’t changed at all. She was still the same hopeless girl: unable to do anything right, terrified of being rejected.

Mikan had never asked for much. Just one person was all she’d ever wanted. One person who would accept her: that was supposed to be enough.

So… why was she still like this? Even after receiving Tenko’s friendship, why hadn’t she changed?

The idea that she’d _never_ be good enough, no matter what, was deeply upsetting to contemplate. It made her feel like she was drowning in a well of despair.

But even if she was going be a hopeless person forever – even if she would never deserve Tenko the way someone like Himiko did – she still couldn’t give up. She was too selfish to let go of the person she loved.

* * *

Forty minutes after class let out, Mikan finally tiptoed out of the infirmary.

The halls were quiet. By that point, most students had gone home, including those who had cleaning duty. Members of the different athletic teams had already changed and taken to the fields. Only a few people hung around after school just to chat, and only a few clubs had meetings on Fridays. Mikan knew that Himiko, however, was rehearsing nearly every day after school for her upcoming end-of-the-year magic show. Tenko had told her all about that during their walks.

Now would be Tenko’s final chance, if she was truly going to ask Himiko today. She hadn’t left her an invitation during the day, so her only chance would be to do it after school, before Himiko went home.

As expected, there was nobody around when Mikan walked up to Himiko’s locker, retrieved the special key from her pocket, and turned the key in the lock. Popping her head inside, she took a look around.

There… didn’t seem to be any invitation.

She was starting to feel frustrated. It wasn’t as though she _wanted_ Tenko to ask Himiko to the dance, but if it was going to happen, she wanted to be able to do something about it.

Deciding to do one last thorough check while nobody was around, Mikan took a closer look inside the locker. Carefully, she lifted up a couple of the notebooks and papers that were in there, checking to see if there was any white card pressed against the sides of the locker, or hidden behind them.

Nothing. There didn’t seem to be anything there. With a sigh, Mikan closed the door.

“Hey hey, what are you doing?”

She nearly jumped a foot in the air.

“That’s Himiko’s locker, not yours. Whatcha doing in there?”

She’d thought she was alone. She’d _made sure_ she was alone.

But there was a girl peeking her head around the next row of lockers, looking directly at her. 

Mikan couldn’t say anything. She just squeaked.

“Did you break in?” Angie Yonaga asked. Somehow, her persistent smile and childish tone of voice made her seem even more scary than she would if she looked furious. “Were you stealing?”

“N-No!” Mikan denied it immediately, though she was so scared she could hardly get the words out. “I-I wasn’t doing a-anything like that.”

Angie completely ignored her weak defense. “You’re a really naughty girl. Stealing is a sin, you know,” she said, moving closer to Mikan, backing her into the lockers. “And all sinners will be punished by God.”

Suddenly, the look on Angie’s face changed. Her eyes narrowed, and her innocent-looking smile morphed into a sinister grin. It reminded her of the faces Kokichi had made the other day. She looked _dangerous_.

“I-It’s not— l-like that—”  Mikan stammered out. “I’m not— I-I wasn’t—"

Mikan put up her hands help up in front of her to defend herself. Angie took this as an opportunity to snatch the key right out of her fist.

“Nyahahaha!”

And with a triumphant laugh, she skipped away from the lockers, out of sight.

It took a second for Mikan to process what had just happened. But once she did, she realized that Angie was probably on her way to go tell Himiko what she’d just seen.

 “W-Wait—!” Mikan cried, chasing after her.

Running as fast as she could, away from the lockers, around the corner, she caught up enough to see Angie’s back running down the hall, her yellow jacket flaring out behind her. She was still quite ahead of her. There was no way Mikan would catch up.

“P-Please, wait!” she cried out again, forcing her legs to move even faster.

Once they turned the corner again, Mikan saw a cart down the hall, a little bit past Tenko and Himiko’s classroom. It appeared to be carrying electronic equipment, and it was being pushed by a small girl wearing green.

Although she cringed at the thought of what she was about to do, creating some kind of big distraction was her only real choice.

Using the last of her strength to speed up even more, Mikan chased Angie the rest of the way down the hall. Angie had just entered her classroom when Mikan deliberately had an accident.

“W-Watch out!” the girl pushing the cart warned her, but it was too late.

Mikan crashed into the cart with enough force to send it banging into the opposite wall, spilling half its equipment in the process. Laptops, several mouses, chargers and a number of cables all crashed to the ground with a series of thuds. The impact also caused one particularly long cable hanging from the side of the cart to fall off and uncoil.

Mikan skidded across the floor in her shoes, pushed backwards, and then tripped a second time on the ethernet cable. Her foot pivoted, and her ankle rolled, pushing her foot inwards in a way that shot pangs of sharp pain coursing through her body. It was so painful that landing flat on her back hardly registered by comparison. She’d meant to fall, but she hadn’t meant to twist her ankle.

The commotion attracted the attention of every student who was nearby. Several heads popped out of the classroom to see what was going on. The girl who’d been pushing the cart immediately rushed over and kneeled down next to her.

“A-Are you okay?!” she asked anxiously. “C-Can you walk? Do you need me to go get a teacher?”

Before Mikan could respond, the sound of another voice made her freeze.

“ _Tsumiki-san?_ ”

Her head jerked up. Her vision was a little blurry, her head still swimming the collision. But she could tell that the figure pushing towards the front of the crowd was—

“C-Chabashira-san…?”

Somehow, she hadn’t thought that Tenko would be in her own classroom after school. She figured she was training in the gym.

“What happened?” Tenko asked, eyes wide at the sight of the mess Mikan had created. “Did you trip?”

Slowly, Mikan nodded, still feeling dizzy. Her back ached and her ankle really hurt. “U-Um… yes…”

“Can you stand? Here,” Tenko said, thrusting out her hand.

Mikan reached out to take it. But, just as she knew would be the case, she couldn’t walk on her twisted ankle. She had to shift all the balance to her other foot instead.

“Ah, careful!” Tenko grabbed for her when she started to wobble. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

Mikan nodded shortly. “I-I sprained my ankle. S-So, I’ll go right now.”

“That means you shouldn’t be walking on it, though,” Tenko pointed out. “Since that’s the case, I should carry you there right now!”

Her heart did a little somersault at that idea. “C-Carry me?” she squeaked.

“Mm!” Tenko nodded. “That would be safest. Just leave everything to me.”

Normally, she’d offer at least some token protests that Tenko shouldn’t go to all that trouble. Her sprain wasn’t that bad. She could get to the infirmary on one leg.

But if she did that, she’d be leaving Tenko in her classroom with Angie, and Angie would tell her what just happened.

So instead she just went along with it. “O-Okay, if you’re sure.”

And with that, Tenko walked over to her and picked her up in her arms. She held one hand behind her back and the other under her knees. It was the same way she’d caught her when they first met. The memory made Mikan’s heart ache.

“Alright, we’re off,” Tenko announced, and with a nod towards everyone who was watching, she began to carry her away. Mikan could see Himiko and Angie watching from the entrance to their classroom. She pointedly looked away from them.

Being carried away bridal-style by Tenko should have been Mikan’s dream come true. And it was true that being this close to her _was_ nice. But Mikan didn’t feel like she could really enjoy it. She mostly just felt ashamed of her own actions. If Tenko knew what had really just happened, she would have never offered to carry her like this.

She also couldn’t shake her trepidation that Angie was going to tell everyone she was a thief who’d been breaking into Himiko’s locker. She was probably telling Himiko right now. There wasn’t going to be any way to keep Tenko from hearing… the next time she came to school, she’d hear all about it. Maybe she’d hear about it even sooner than that, by text or by phone or something.

As soon as Tenko learned what kind of person she was, she probably wouldn’t want anything to do with her.

The thought that this might be their last time together left Mikan feeling utterly miserable.

When they reached the infirmary, Tenko gently set Mikan down on one of the beds.

“Alright,” she said. “What do I do now?”

Mikan blinked at her for a minute before realizing what she was asking. “You don’t need to do anything,” she said. “I-I’m a nurse, so, I can take care of it.”

Tenko shook her head. “Not at all. You should be resting. I’ll take care of it for you. Just tell you what to do.”

“Don’t… you have something more important you need to be doing?”

“No, there’s nothing more important than helping out a girl who’s been injured. Caring for girls who’ve been hurt is part of my job as a hero of justice,” Tenko said matter-of-factly.

Normally, hearing Tenko say things like that made Mikan swoon. But now it just made her feel even worse. Knowing what a wonderful, selfless person Tenko was just reminded Mikan how much she didn’t measure up, how truly awful her behavior had been lately.

She’d rather have Tenko stay in the infirmary with her than go back to her classroom and talk to Angie, though, so it did make sense to let the other girl take care of her.

“O-Okay, then… First it needs to be elevated.”

Mikan lay back against the pillow and propped her foot up on the bed. Then Tenko removed her sock and shoe.

“Hmm, it doesn’t look too bad.”

“It’s only a mild sprain,” Mikan agreed.

“Mm.” Tenko nodded. “I’ve sprained my ankle before while practicing, so I can tell. Um, is there a freezer around here?”

“Yes, over there—”

Mikan guided Tenko through wrapping her foot in a towel, then applying an ice pack. Being handled so gently by Tenko was honestly really nice, even if it was just her foot being touched.

“Hey, um.” After a few moments of quiet, Tenko spoke up. “There’s… something I wanted to ask you about.”

Her tentative tone of voice caught Mikan’s attention immediately. She normally sounded much more confident. The only times Mikan had heard her sound like that were when she revealed something personal.

“Yes?”

“You know how yesterday, you asked me if I was going to, um,” Tenko blushed deeply. “Invite the g-girl I like to the dance?”

So that was what she wanted to talk about.

Mikan’s heart sank. She didn’t want to hear about this, but… she figured it couldn’t hurt her too badly. She’d already had a lousy day. She didn’t have enough expectations left to be capable of too much disappointment.

“Yes,” she said quietly. “I remember.”

“W-Well… um… the thing is…” Tenko didn’t seem capable of looking at her directly. “I was going to wait to say this on the way home, but… While we’re here, and a-alone together and stuff, I t-thought that… now might be a good time.”

Mikan didn’t say anything. She just looked at her.

“Tsumiki-san,” Tenko said, face red, leaning forward across Mikan’s legs to finally look her in the eye. “W-Will you go to the dance with me?”

Mikan stared at her, uncomprehending.

“…Eh?”

“I really like you. A-As more than just a friend, I mean. So…” Tenko took a deep breath. “W-Would you go to the dance with me, as my g-girlfriend?”

Silence.

Tenko was blushing hard. She had her eyes shut and her hands in front of her face. Mikan, on the other hand, couldn’t do anything but stare.

“Are… Are you serious?”

“Y-Yeah,” Tenko said, swallowing audibly. “Completely serious.” Then she opened her eyes, and seemed to notice the look of complete disbelief on Mikan’s face, which probably wasn’t very encouraging.

“…Is it no good?” Tenko asked, looking sad now.

Mikan didn’t mean to make her feel bad. But she genuinely could not process this.

“B-But…” she stammered. “I thought… Yumeno-san…” She looked at Tenko searchingly. “Isn’t Yumeno-san the person you like?”

“Yumeno-san,” Tenko repeated. “S-So you thought that, huh…” She grimaced slightly, seeming embarrassed, but not too surprised. “The truth is… I did use to be attracted to Yumeno-san. But, my feelings changed over time. We’re still best friends, of course,” she added quickly, “I’m sure we’ll always be the best of friends! But, I kind of accepted that she wasn’t going to like me the same way I liked her. And then…” She paused, looking at Mikan meaningfully. “Recently, there was somebody else I started spending time with. Someone I started to have those kinds of feelings for.”

Mikan’s eyes widened.

“Y-You mean… me?”

“Mm.” Tenko nodded, blushing, the expression on her face utterly sincere. “It’s you, Tsumiki-san. S-So, um… will you go out with me?”

Mikan stared at her some more.

She could hardly believe this. It seemed impossible. It felt like there must be some mistake. But she knew by now that Tenko wouldn’t lie, not to her, not about this. The words that Tenko just spoke couldn’t be anything other than her true feelings.

It was _exactly_ what she’d been longing to hear. What she’d dreamed of hearing, for so long, for what felt like her entire life. What she’d been afraid Tenko was going to say to Himiko instead.

So why… did hearing those words send tremors of guilt through her?

Instead of making her feel happy, why did hearing the one thing she wanted to hear above all else make her want to cry?

 “Would that… really be okay?” Mikan said slowly.

“Of course it would be,” Tenko said. Her words came automatically.

“B-But I’m…” Mikan’s breath caught in her throat. “I’m so…” Tears were starting to well up. “Dirty.”

“Tsumiki-san—”

"I-I’m… I’m a hopeless person,” Mikan said. “I-I can’t make friends. I can’t get along with people. I c-can’t do a-anything right… and I-I…” She remembered some of the urges and ideas she’d had, snooping inside Himiko’s locker, and covered her face with her hands. “I-I think about doing b-bad things all the time.”

“Bad things?” Tenko repeated.

“Y-Yes,” Mikan sobbed. She knew she shouldn’t tell Tenko about this, but for some reason, the words spilled out of her mouth anyway. She felt so guilty, it was like she had to confess. “I… I wanted to hurt Yumeno-san. W-When I thought you were going to ask her to the d-dance, I-I thought about poisoning her, o-or making her sick so she couldn’t c-come to school.” Her words were coming out choked, so garbled she wondered if Tenko could even understand them, and if it might not be better if she couldn’t. “T-That’s the kind of person I am. I-I don’t deserve to be forgiven.”

There… she’d finally told her the truth. The full, ugly truth about what kind of person she was.

She wasn’t expecting a response right away. She figured Tenko would be shocked. Shocked and disgusted.

But Tenko’s words followed right after her own.

“But you didn’t do it, right?”

Mikan froze.

“E-Eh?”

“You didn’t actually do anything to hurt Yumeno-san, right?” Tenko asked again.

Eyes wide, Mikan looked at her.

Tenko… didn’t look mad, or disgusted, or anything like that. She had the same serious look on her face Mikan had seen her wearing a few times before.

“N-No,” Mikan answered her after a minute.

“Then, you shouldn’t beat yourself up so much,” Tenko said simply. “I’ve thought about doing bad things to people too, you know?”

Mikan looked at her in shock. “Y-You have?”

“Mm. Like… I said I used to be in l-love with Yumeno-san, right?” Tenko asked, flushing again. “Well… during our second year, she started hanging out with Angie-san way more than me. Whenever I wanted to talk to her, or sit with her at lunch, Angie-san was already there. And she fed her all these weird ideas about God and stuff, too, and caused Yumeno-san to start acting strange. It made me really upset.” Tenko looked pensive, remembering the past. “I just wanted to throw her really hard. Sometimes when I was practicing my neo-aikido, I’d even pretend the punching bag was Angie-san."

To say Mikan was surprised by that speech was an understatement.

All along, she never would have thought Tenko would want to hurt someone. Not unless that person truly deserved it. She was also surprised to hear that Tenko’s group of friends had ever had any tension like that. Tenko was so kind and easy to talk to, that Mikan always assumed friendship came easily to her. She always assumed friendship came easily to everyone _but_ her.

“Really…?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Tenko nodded. She grimaced, looking a bit embarrassed over her past. “I got reminded of all that stuff recently, because guess who invited Yumeno-san to the dance?”

Mikan’s eyed widened even further. “A-Angie-san?!”

“Yep. Ah, to be clear, they’re not dating or anything,” Tenko said quickly. “They’re just going as friends… or at least, I _think_ they are.” She smiled a little awkwardly. “Honestly, it’s hard to tell with Angie-san.”

“I-I see...” Mikan felt abashed to realize she’d had no idea about the things that went on between Tenko and her friends. It felt strange, realizing that there were still many things about Tenko she still didn’t know, so many parts of her life she hadn’t been aware of.

Maybe assuming Tenko’s feelings at all was something she shouldn’t have done. After all… they’d only been friends for a little while.

Tenko started talking again, pulling Mikan out of her thoughts. “What I’m saying is… everyone has those thoughts sometimes. What’s important is not acting on them!” she declared. “And practicing mental training, so they don’t take up too much brain power. If I’d spent all day thinking about beating up Angie-san, then that would have been bad for my health. But after training myself mentally, I managed to get those thoughts under control. Now I don’t even have them at all.”

Mikan looked down at her lap as those words sunk in. What Tenko had just said sounded impressive. It sounded reasonable. She wanted to believe her, but… it still wasn’t enough to get rid of all her doubts.

“I don’t…” Mikan said haltingly. “I don’t know how to make them go away. Those thoughts, I mean… I…” she started to get choked up again. “I-I don’t think I can just… stop having them.”

“Then you’ll just have to work on it, right?”

Mikan looked up at her. She was surprised once again – surprised by Tenko’s easy, unwavering belief in her.

“Everyone has things they need to work on,” Tenko continued, smiling at her encouragingly. “Me, Yumeno-san, Angie-san, and everyone else at this school. That includes you, of course. I never expected you to be perfect. That’s not why I like you so much.”

A flush spread across Mikan’s face. She stared at Tenko, eyes wide.

There it was again. Another sign.

After they first met, after Tenko called her wonderful, Mikan had thought of Tenko as someone she had a fresh start with. Someone who didn’t know what a hopeless person she was, who didn’t see her as weak or pitiful. Instead, Tenko saw her as someone strong and helpful. She thought of her as the health committee member who competently helped everyone in school. That had made her unbelievably happy… but, even then, deep down Mikan probably knew it wouldn’t last. She knew that Tenko would eventually find out what kind of person she really was.

In addition to keeping Tenko around her, Mikan had also wanted to keep Tenko’s image of her alive: the image of a helpful, competent person who used her talent for the good of the entire school. But, of course, that hadn’t worked out. She wasn’t any good at pretending to be strong. On their very first walk home together, she ended up revealing how weak she was. Only a few days after that she ended up crying in front of Tenko.

But even after betraying her weaknesses, there were still things Mikan felt she had to keep inside. Things that she thought would drive Tenko away if she knew about them. The bad thoughts she had about hurting people and making them sick were one of those things.

Mikan had always longed for someone who knew everything about her. Who saw her for what she was, knew about all her defects, and still accepted her. Even the idea of opening up all the way to somebody was terrifying, she’d still wished there was somebody out there who would see her for what she was, and love her anyway. Someone who would forgive her existence.

For the entire time she’d known Tenko, she’d revealed more and more about herself. Until now, finally,  Tenko was aware of just how ugly she could be.

And Tenko… still wasn’t backing away. Tenko still claimed to _like her_ , despite everything.

It gave her hope. Hope that she’d finally found someone who would accept her no matter what.

But it also made her uneasy, because it didn’t make sense to her. There were so many things wrong with her, especially compared to cute, normal girls like Himiko… what could Tenko possibly see in her that made it worth it?”

“What,” Mikan said quietly, ducking her head down again so she didn’t have to meet Tenko’s eyes, “What do you like about me?”

“That’s a pretty direct question,” Tenko remarked, blushing a little bit.

That was true. It was a bold question. Normally, Mikan would back down and apologize for asking, but… this time was different. She needed to know.

And maybe Tenko understood that, because her answer came soon enough.

“Hmm… first of all,” Tenko began, “I like that you’re so helpful towards everyone. I meant it when I said it's amazing that you can help people all day long without getting tired, you know? I think that’s really impressive. Second of all…” Tenko paused, looking thoughtful. “I like that it’s so easy to talk to you. I mean, I think you could stand to speak up a little more, but I’ve always felt comfortable talking to you about anything. Even embarrassing things I wouldn’t admit to anyone else. Like how I’ve always wanted to do stuff like dress up with other girls and do their hair… things like that. I just know that no matter what I say, you won’t be judging me. And third of all…” Tenko paused again, then flashed Mikan a smile that made her heart pound. “I like that you always try so hard, and you’re so energetic. It’s really cute.”

“C-Cute?” Mikan repeated, blushing. It still shocked her to hear it.

“Mm. Like, I know you’re really shy, and you’ve had a lot of bad experiences in the past, so it’s hard for you to talk to new people. But you still asked me to walk home together, right? And you asked Mioda-san to help find me before that. That must have taken a lot of courage.”

Mikan was surprised. She wanted to deny it. It sounded ridiculous; she never would have thought of herself as courageous or energetic in a million years. But it wasn’t like anything Tenko had said was wrong. It _had_ been hard for her to initiate their friendship.

“I like how you’re so honest about your feelings, too. Or at least, sometimes you are,” Tenko continued. “I know there are a lot of things you keep inside, but… I really like it when I compliment you, and you just smile and laugh. I’m really bad at accepting compliments. And I like how when you want to hang out more, or you don’t want me to go, you just say so… It’s nice to be around someone who really cares about you,” Tenko said, smiling a little sadly. “The last person I liked was really bad at expressing her feelings. Sometimes I couldn’t tell if she liked me at all, even as a friend. So, it makes _me_ happy that being around me makes _you_ happy.” Tenko laughed a little self-consciously. “Um, does that make sense?"

Mutely, Mikan nodded her head.

Someone who enjoyed helping people. Someone easy to talk to. Someone who was trying her best. Someone who was honest about her feelings to the people she loves.

So that was the kind of person Tenko saw when she looked at her.

It still didn’t feel right. Not really. Even though Mikan recognized that some of the things Tenko had said about her were true… she still didn’t see herself that way at all. From where she was standing, her negative qualities overshadowed everything else.

But for the first time in her life, she felt like maybe it didn’t have to be that way.

“I want,” she began, then choked up and started again. “I-I want… to be the person you see me as. The person you just described… I want to be like her.” She clenched her fists in her apron, feeling a rush of determination course through her body, so strong it made her feel dizzy. “I want to change.”

After taking a few breaths to get herself more under control, Mikan looked Tenko in the eye.

“Will you… help me?” she asked.

“Of course I will,” Tenko replied. “Do you even have to ask?”

Relief washed over her. It was like all the tension left her body at once. Mikan scrubbed over her face, wiping away the last of her tears.

She knew it was going to be really hard to change. She’d been stuck in her ways for so long, but…

If she had Tenko’s help, then she could do it. That was what she truly believed.

No longer on the verge of tears, and with most of the tension in her body dissipated, Mikan felt much more relaxed. It was like she was finally at peace.

Then she realized her foot had gone numb.

“The ice!” she squeaked. “I-It’s time to remove it now…”

“Ah!” Tenko grabbed it and moved it off of Mikan like it was a poisonous snake. “S-Sorry, my bad!”

“N-No, it’s not your fault!” Mikan denied, shaking her head vehemently. “I-I’m a nurse, I need to keep track of these things—"

“It does seem kind of in-character for you to pay more attention to other people’s injuries than your own…”

“T-That’s not true, I don’t do that,” Mikan protested. Though honestly, it was kind of true.

Tenko just laughed. “Anyway, I need to bandage your foot now, right?”

Mikan nodded. “I-If you’d be so kind…”

She told Tenko where the right type of bandages were kept, and Tenko dutifully got them out and began bandaging her foot. It occurred to Mikan that Tenko would do pretty well on the health committee.

“So, um, Tsumiki-san,” Tenko said as she finished with the bandage. “Y-You never answered my question.”

Their previous conversation had taken so much out of Mikan that she almost forgot what question Tenko was referring to in the first place. But then it hit her.

“Ah!” she exclaimed. “Y-You’re right! I’m sorry!”

“No, it’s fine, just…” Tenko coughed a little, blushing. “I-If you need some time to think about w-whether or not to go to the dance with me, it’s okay.”

Mikan did need some time to think about certain things. Like how to start improving herself, and what to say to Himiko when she apologized to her.

But this wasn’t one of those things.

“No,” she said. “I don’t need any time. I-If you’ll have me, then… I’ll go with you anywhere."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd here's the final chapter. Successfully completed before the new year, yes. This chapter is a little longer than the others, but hopefully I managed to tie up all loose ends.
> 
> Note: the third section of this chapter contains references to past sexual abuse. They're pretty vague, but I thought I should mention it.
> 
> More notes about the third section: yes, Tsumiki's room really is that weird. http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/onkei_kun/8810278/734844/734844_1000.png Also, her love of bloody horror stories is indeed canon. http://danganronpaislandmode.tumblr.com/post/131701739617/lets-watch-some-horror-movies-horror-is
> 
> A note about the title of this fic: most of you probably already know this (I imagine the sort of people who'd read this fanfic are the exact same people who have already seen the video, haha), but the title was taken from this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV-_Yuc228s I think the song conveys Tsumiki's feelings in this fic pretty well. f you want, feel free to imagine Hayley Kiyoko as Tsumiki and the other girl as Tenko.
> 
> Finally, thank you so much to everyone who read, commented, or left kudos on this fic. I'm glad I actually finished something for once.

Mikan supposed it was lucky that the incident had occurred at the end of the school week. Since she’d sustained only a mild sprain, her foot had mostly recovered by Monday — though she still had to be careful not to put too much pressure on it. The weekend also gave her time to face up to what she’d done, and mentally prepare herself to make things right again. She practiced a lot of different apologies to Himiko in her head.

On Moday, Mikan walked to school alone for the first time since she’d become friends with Tenko. She told Tenko that she had something to take care of alone, which Tenko accepted without prying.

She left earlier than usual, so she could hang around the front gates and catch Himiko when she arrived. She only had to wait for a little while before she spotted the person she was looking for; it seemed that Himiko had come to school early today, too.

A fresh wave of anxiety rolled over her, but she didn’t let it weaken her resolve. She knew what she had to do. Taking a deep breath, she called out to the small red-haired girl.

“Yumeno-san?”

Slowly, Himiko turned and faced her. She didn’t seem to have very sharp reflexes. “Huh?”

“Can I please speak with you?” Mikan asked. “Um, somewhere more private…”

“If you say it like that, it almost sounds like you’re going to confess, you know,” Himiko said. Then, oddly enough, she started blushing. Her own words apparently embarrassed her.

“I-It’s nothing like that,” Mikan said, a little dumbfounded. She’d expected Himiko to be mad at her, after what Angie must have told her, but she wasn’t showing any anger. “I just… need to tell you something.”

Himiko shrugged. She didn’t look particularly enthused or particularly annoyed. “Fine.”

They walked around the campus until they reached the athletic fields. There didn’t seem to be any teams out having practice. Satisfied that they were alone, Mikan shoved down her nerves in order to say what needed to be said.

“Um…” Mikan took a deep breath. “I’m really, really sorry for breaking into your locker. That was terrible of me, and…” Realizing that she should show some more respect, Mikan got on her knees in the dirt and bowed. “I-If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you, then, I’ll do it. W-Whatever you want is fine.”

For a minute, there was silence. Then came an unexpected reply.

“It’s okay… you don’t have to apologize.”

Mikan froze. She raised her head to look at Himiko. “E-Eh?”

“I already got the full story,” Himiko said. She really, truly didn’t look mad. She just looked sort of awkward. Mikan couldn’t understand.

“What do you mean?”

“It was that jerk Ouma’s doing. I already know that, so, I’m not mad,” Himiko explained. Awkwardly, she looked away from her. “You can get up now. It’s kind of weird to talk to you like this.”

Mikan did as she was told. But she still didn’t know what was going on. “Ouma-san’s doing?” she asked.

“The key you were using was his, right?”

“Yes…” Mikan said slowly, still not comprehending.

“So, he bullied you into pranking people for him… right?”

Mikan stared at her. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t have to cover for him,” Himiko said. “That guy got in trouble during our first year for putting things in people’s lockers. Stuff like stink bombs, small animals, jack-in-the-boxes that’ll pop out at you when you open them, and even explosives.”

“ _E-Explosives?!_ ” Mikan was stunned.

“Mm. Like fireworks that’ll go off when you open the door… things like that. He ruined two of my spellbooks,” Himiko explained, scowling at the memory. “And he convinced Momota his locker was haunted, which really freaked him out… He mostly kept it to people in our class, so you probably didn’t notice. But that’s why they added locks to all the lockers in our second year.”

“I-I see…” Mikan did remember that the lockers only had locks on them from their second year onwards, but she never investigated the reason behind the change. Everyone in her class had just shrugged and accepted it.

“You’re not the first person he bullied into doing his dumb pranks for him. He used to trick Gonta into helping him all the time, until he finally got smarter and learned to stop hanging out with him. So, I understand what happened."

Hearing Himiko’s explanation left Mikan feeling conflicted. She recognized that this was an out. She could just pretend she was just doing Kokichi’s bidding and escape most of the blame… But that would be dishonest. She hadn’t been coerced into doing anything; _she’d_ been the one to approach _him_. Lying about her mistakes probably wasn’t a good start to her self-improvement plan.

But, on the other hand, her alternative wasn’t very good either. The alternative was to tell Himiko the truth: that she’d broken into her locker, planning to rip up her invitation to the dance; that she’d gone through all her things; that she’d considered tampering with her food and water.

Mikan wasn’t sure admitting to all that would actually do Himiko any good. It might make _her_ feel better, to confess her sins, but Himiko would most likely be disturbed. It was probably better to let her continue thinking that the biggest threat she had to worry about at Hope’s Peak was Kokichi’s pranks.

Even if she was going to go along with the lie, though, she felt like she needed to apologize some more anyway.

“Still,” Mikan said, “I knew it was wrong, to break into your locker like that, and I did it anyway. So… I’m really sorry.”

“Okay,” Himiko said. Then she asked, “Can I go now? I’ve got to get some rehearsal time in before class starts.”

Mikan nodded. “R-Right, of course. Sorry for keeping you.”

* * *

Well, her before-school apology to Himiko was not the ordeal she expected it to be. But there was still someone else she really needed to talk to. Luckily, she happened to run into him on the way to lunch, and convinced him to go to the privacy of the infirmary with her.

“D-Did you get your key back?” Mikan asked him once they were alone.

“Nope, I didn’t,” Kokichi said, hanging his head sadly. It wasn’t an expression Mikan had seen on him before. “I’ve been really depressed over it. The teacher totally confiscated it from Angie-chan, and everyone got mad at me… Waahh, it’s not fair!” Kokichi burst into tears. “Getting blamed for someone else’s misdeeds totally sucks!!”

He looked really upset with her. Mikan flew into a panic.

“I-I’m really sorry about that!” she squeaked. “Um, I-I can go tell your teacher the truth s-so you won’t be in trouble anymore!”

“Eh, don’t bother,” Kokichi said, immediately back to his easygoing demeanor. The quick transformation gave Mikan whiplash.

_Those were just c-crocodile tears?!_

“They wouldn’t believe me anyway,” he said. “Everyone just loooves to bully me and side against me. They’ll gladly believe all sorts of horrible things about me. Whereas nobody would believe a quiet girl like you goes around breaking into people’s lockers, unless some evil guy like me made her do it.”

Mikan swallowed. She felt really guilty, but… there was also something that confused her.

“If you knew you’d get blamed, then why did you let me have the key?” she asked.

“Isn’t that obvious?” came Kokichi’s immediate reply.

Mikan shook her head. “N-Not really.” Honestly, nothing about Kokichi seemed “obvious” to her.

Kokichi’s lips curved into the same sinister smile he’d showed her a week before. “So I could get blackmail material, of course.”

Her eyes bugged out. “Eh…?”

“I know the truth about Tsumiki-chan’s true nature when nobody else does,” Kokichi explained to her cheerfully. “And even though nobody would believe a liar like me if I told the truth about you, there are still ways I could expose what kind of person you are. In order to keep your true nature a secret, and continue living as an innocent shy girl, you’ll do anything I ask, right?”

An uneasy feeling grew in Mikan’s chest. There were some things that didn’t add up when it came to Kokichi’s reputation as an evil supreme leader, but she could tell that he was clever enough to be a threat to her. In the past, she would have immediately agreed to do whatever he wanted, in order to avoid being exposed.

But now… she felt like agreeing to do _anything_ would be going too far. There were things she’d made a vow not to do anymore, both to herself and to others, in order to improve as a human being.

And besides… there was already someone who knew exactly what kind of person she was, and that someone still loved her anyway. Kokichi’s threat didn’t hold as much power over her as it once would have.

“Um…” Mikan hesitated. “I know I owe you a lot, s-so, I can buy you some more things if you want. But there are also things I can’t agree to do.”

“What about being my own private nurse?”

Mikan blinked. “Eh?”

“Leading a massive criminal organization is dangerous work, you know?” Kokichi said. “There are times when me and my followers get hurt in knife fights, or get ambushed by members of enemy organizations, and stuff like that. Obviously, we can’t go to a regular doctor without risking exposing our evildoing. So we could definitely use a doctor on the inside.”

Mikan stared at him, processing this.

“How about it?” he continued. “Will you be the private nurse for an entire evil organization? Will you be there whenever we call for you?”

Although Mikan enjoyed helping people who needed her, she had her limits. Normally, she’d hesitate to pledge her loyalty to an organization full of evildoers.

But based on what Himiko had said about Kokichi, as well as her own observations, she kind of got the impression that his massive evil organization wasn’t as massive or as evil as he said it was. If she had to guess, she thought it might be something like a group of friends who played pranks.

So, she agreed to it. “O-Okay,” she said. “I'll be your private nurse. I’ll heal any injuries you want, whenever you need me.”

“Good choice.” Kokichi grinned his approval. “I’m sure you’ll do well in our ranks, Tsumiki-chan.”

* * *

By the end of the school day, it felt like a lot had happened. Her class had a lot of tests to study for, since the end of the year was rapidly approaching. During gym, Akane got hurt sparring with Nekomaru, and it had been Mikan's responsibility to treat her in the infirmary. Not to mention the conversations she’d had with Himiko and Kokichi; even though they went well, those had taken a lot of energy out of her, too.

But thankfully, Monday was the one day of the school week when neither she nor Tenko had any after-school activities. As soon as the bell rang, they could head home together.

When Mikan had first started walking home with Tenko, she’d spend the entire school day looking forward to it. And she still did look forward to it, but, now it was a little different. It felt like… although she was really looking forward to being with her, she wasn’t trying to grasp onto her time with Tenko like it was a lifeline any more. Walking to school alone in the morning had sort of reminded her she didn’t _need_ Tenko by her side, even if she preferred to have her there.

The other thing that was different, of course, was that they were a couple now. This was going to be their first walk together since they started dating. She wasn’t sure what to expect. Although… she didn’t even know if she _should_ expect anything to be different. After they officially became friends, their walks home together and the things they talked about didn’t really change. Maybe becoming girlfriends wouldn’t change things significantly, either... even though there were definitely things lovers did together that friends didn’t do.

When they met up by the front gate, Tenko greeted her the same way she always did.

“Hi, Tsumiki-san.  Are you ready to go?”

“Yes.” Mikan nodded, and with that, they started down the sidewalk.

“Did you have a good day today?” Tenko asked her.

Mikan thought about it.

Her apology to Himiko had gone well. Her talk with Kokichi had gone well, too. She had gotten the chance to help one of her classmates with her injuries, and her own injury was recovering smoothly. Unlike on Friday, she’d been able to answer when Yukizome had called on her. And she hadn't suffered any more embarrassing accidents, either.

Overall, she realized, it _had_ been a good day. Probably her best in a while.

So Mikan nodded. “Mm. It was a little tiring, but… I had a good day.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Tenko replied.

“What’s been going on in your class?” Mikan asked.

“Hmm, nothing too unusual. Yumeno-san is still working hard to practice her magic. Angie-san tried to lead everyone in afternoon prayer. Iruma-san has been trying to install a dancing function in Kiibo-san.”

“A dancing function?” Mikan repeated curiously.

“Mm. Kiibo-san is the Ultimate Robot. Unfortunately, whoever designed him didn’t have the sense to make a female model instead of a male model,” Tenko said, frowning. “But, as far as male degenerates go, he’s not so bad. Apparently, he’s been trying to learn how to dance before the school dance, but he’s not having very much luck with it.”

“I-I see.” Mikan had a hard time picturing a robot dancing, but she guessed she’d see for herself before too long. Speaking of which…

“Um, I just realized, I still haven’t bought tickets yet,” Mikan admitted.

“Ah, I haven’t either!” Tenko gasped.  “We should do that soon… although I’m sure even if we missed the deadline, that cute rabbit from your class would still let us come to the dance. She seems like the type who would.”

“Yes,” Mikan agreed, though she really didn’t want to risk it. “Usami-san is very nice.”

“I’ve never understood how she works, though… Usami-san, I mean. And the Monokubs. I wonder if it’s similar to how Kiibo-san functions?”

“I-I try not to think about it too much,” Mikan said.

They carried on like that until they started approaching Mikan’s apartment complex. They hadn’t gotten any more specific about their plans for the dance, but just talking about the dance at all with Tenko was reassuring. It reminded Mikan that she still had a place there.

When they reached her apartment, Mikan suddenly had an idea. It might be too presumptuous, but… she was trying not to worry so much about being presumptuous anymore, at least with Tenko. It was part of her self-improvement plan.

Besides, it probably wouldn’t be _that_ bold to ask, considering that Tenko _was_ her girlfriend now… as much as the thought still made her brain freeze up.

“We’re here. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Tenko said. But before she could walk away, Mikan spoke up.

“Um… I was wondering…”

“Yeah?”

“Since there’s no practice today, d-do you have some free time?” Mikan asked, blushing a little in her insecurity.

“Ah… yeah, I do.” Tenko smiled at her. “Is there something you had in mind?”

“Well, I was wondering if…” Mikan gestured to her apartment, “if you want to come inside?”

“V-Visiting Tsumiki-san’s home, huh…” Tenko gulped audibly. She was blushing too now.

“Yes… d-do you not want to?”

Tenko shook her head. “No, it’s not a problem. Sure, I’ll come inside. To be honest, I haven’t been invited to friends’ houses very much… and I’ve definitely never been invited to a g-girlfriend’s house.” Tenko blushed furiously, stumbling on the word. “So, I’m really excited now.”

“I-I’m glad!” Mikan said, equally red-faced. “A-Anyway, it’s this way…”

Mikan led Tenko into her apartment. As she unlocked the door and took her shoes off by the entrance, she started to feel more insecure. She hadn’t cleaned very recently. She also wasn’t really sure what a normal apartment was supposed to look like. She knew that hers was probably more barren than most, with few things outside her room other than the bare necessities. Hopefully Tenko wouldn’t notice.

“Pardon the intrusion,” Tenko said as she walked into the entrance hall. “So this is Tsumiki-san’s place, huh…”

“P-Please make yourself at home,” Mikan told her.

Tenko walked farther in, taking in her surroundings. “This place is pretty small… do you live here alone?”

Mikan nodded. “Mm.”

“Wow, you must be really responsible!” Tenko remarked. She sounded impressed.

“Not really,” Mikan said self-consciously, looking away. “It’s just… once I got recognized for my talent, and got a scholarship to Hope’s Peak, my parents were able to finally get rid of me. And I was able to get away from them, too.”

“I see…” Tenko sounded sad to hear her talk like that, but to Mikan’s relief, she didn’t press that line of inquiry any further.

“Do you want to see my room?” she asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible. Honestly, she wasn’t sure why she’d started saying depressing things again.

Thankfully, Tenko went along with her. “Sure.”

Mikan opened the door to the adjacent bedroom. Her room was pretty small, but it was big enough to fit her bed, her desk and her bookshelf. There was also room for some other things she liked having around, such as her miniature operating table, collection of first aid materials, and medical charts.

“Wow,” Tenko said as she took it all in. “Your room is really, uh…”

Mikan cocked her head. “Is it strange?”

“No, not at all,” Tenko quickly reassured her. “I think it’s really cool that you’re so passionate about being a nurse.”

Mikan giggled happily to herself at the compliment. “Ehehehe…”

Tenko went to examine her desk and her bookshelf. “Hey, are these manga?” she asked, gesturing at the shelf.

Mikan nodded. “Yes.” The top two rows of her bookshelf were mostly medical texts, but the bottom row was all manga. She was particularly fond of her collection of Junji Ito works.

“Great!” Tenko said enthusiastically. She skimmed over the titles, before pulling out a volume at random. “Ooh, the girl on the cover is really cute. She has like, a mysterious aura. Let’s check this one out…”

Tenko removed the book she’d set her sights on, flipped to a random page, and began to read. Mikan watched expectantly from her seat on the bed. Tenko looked cheerful at first, but as she turned the pages, her expression slowly changed. The smile melted off her face. Her eyes started bugging out. Mikan began to feel concerned.

“Chabashira-san?”

“Um... This is kind of…” Tenko was starting to sweat. She turned another page, then let out a yelp and closed the book. Apparently, she’d seen something she _really_ didn’t like. “This is way too much for me!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Mikan said. “Do you not like horror?” She thought _Tomie_ was rather interesting herself. Though her personal favorite was the short story “Dissection Girl.”

“It’s not my favorite… You like this kind of thing?” Tenko asked, tucking the volume back into the shelf.

“Mm.” Mikan nodded. “Seeing all the blood and bodies is really interesting to me as a nurse… it’s why the body horror genre is my favorite. It also makes me think about how helpful I could be if I was there… When I see a character who’s having something terrible happen to them, I think about how if I was there, I could rush in and save them. That always makes me feel good.”

“I-I see,” Tenko said, sounding kind of surprised. “I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing.”

“Do you think it’s strange?” Mikan asked, starting to feel worried. “A-Are you disgusted?”

As usual, Tenko quickly assuaged her fears. “No, of course not. Actually, I think it’s cool. Tsumiki-san is like, hardcore!”

Mikan didn’t quite understand the compliment, but she recognized it for one nonetheless. She giggled happily some more.

Tenko turned away from the bookshelf and sat down at her desk chair. With nothing to do, a thick silence fell between them.

“Y-You can sit closer, if you want,” Mikan offered, trying to break the silence.

“Ah… it’s okay if I sit on the bed?” Tenko asked, blushing.

“Yes.”

“Alright, then…”

Tenko got up and moved the small distance over to the bed, and sat down beside Mikan. The bedsprings gave an audible creak. After that, the silence resumed.

Mikan’s heart was pounding in her chest now. She couldn’t help it. They were so close… and more importantly, they were all alone in her room. Although they’d had been alone in the same room together before, they were still technically in public during those times. Now, for the first time, there wasn’t any risk that someone would walk in on them. They could do whatever they wanted with no fear of being seen.

She kind of knew what she wanted to do next. It felt like what they were _supposed_ to do next, too. The question was how to get from Point A to Point B… her past experiences in that field weren’t helpful at all. In the past, other people just had their way with her, and she didn’t really have to do anything, besides strip when they told her to or something like that.

Those memories were so unpleasant, she tried not to return to them very often. She didn’t want to use them as reference, especially for something that felt as safe and warm as this. But she couldn’t help but do so anyway. They were the only reference she had.

The first step was probably to say something, so she opened her mouth.

“Um—"

“So—"

They both stopped and looked at each other. It looked like they’d both tried to speak at the same time.

“S-Sorry for interrupting,” Mikan said frantically.

Tenko shook her head, equally frantic. “N-No, it’s fine! What were you going to say?”

“Um… W-Well…” Mikan stared down at her lap. “I was thinking, um… s-since we’re a couple now… did you want to try…” She took a deep breath. “Kissing, o-or something?”

“ _K-Kissing?!_ ” Tenko sputtered. Her face turned bright red. By now, Mikan could see that coming.

“Y-Yes.”

“Um…” Tenko looked pretty out of her element. All the easy confidence she displayed when she talked about neo-aikido or being a hero of justice was nowhere to be seen. But eventually, she gave her reply. “Y-Yeah… okay.”

“Really?” Mikan asked. Her heart skipped a beat.

Tenko gave her a shaky nod. “S-Sure. Let’s do it.”

So, that was that. They were going to do this. Mikan was about to have her first kiss with her first girlfriend.

Except… they weren’t doing anything.

After Tenko agreed to do it, they just continued to sit there on the bed doing nothing.

“D-Do you want me to make the first move?” Mikan asked, though she hardly knew what she was doing.

“Ah, i-if you want me to do it, I-I can!” Tenko offered, getting even more flustered.

“Either way is fine… U-Um.”  Mikan swallowed. “M-Maybe we should both go for it at the same time.”

Tenko nodded. “R-Right, that’s a good idea.”

“Then… on the count of three. One…two…”

When she said “three”, they both turned to face each other.

Mikan saw her own mix of nerves and eagerness reflected in Tenko’s eyes. Her gaze fell from Tenko’s eyes, thick with the usual sharp eyeliner she wore, to her nose, to her flushed cheeks, and finally to her lips.

It was at that point when they started kissing. In the end, she wasn’t sure who got there first.

The first thing Mikan thought was that it was _warm_. Tenko was so close that Mikan could feel her body heat emanating from her skin. Tenko’s breath was hot against her mouth. It was odd to feel someone breathe against her lips like that.

It went so slowly, that Mikan found herself overly conscious of every little thing: every sound, every movement, every sensation.

Tenko audibly sucked in a breath when Mikan pressed their lips together more firmly. Eventually, she kissed back harder herself. In fact, she went a little farther than Mikan had, bringing her hand up to thread it through Mikan’s hair. Mikan’s eyes flew open at that – she’d never had anyone touch her hair so gently before.  She decided to take it as permission to do the same, except… it was kind of hard to stroke someone’s hair when they had it in tight braids. Clearly, she hadn’t thought that one through. Her hand gripped the back of Tenko’s neck instead, which caused Tenko to make a noise, like she hadn’t expected the touch.

Before Mikan could wonder if she’d been too bold, Tenko suddenly got more aggressive: pushing against her more firmly, kissing her more deeply. Mikan’s heart leapt at that. It was exciting, having Tenko show desire for her. Right now, there was nothing she wanted more.

Spurred on, she opened her mouth for Tenko, who let out another noise of surprise, this one muffled by Mikan’s tongue. After a moment, she went along with it, tentatively touching her own tongue to Mikan’s.

Eventually, Mikan broke apart from her, but only because she needed to breathe. She pulled back just enough to look at Tenko’s whole face. A fresh wave of heat coursed through her as she took in Tenko’s appearance: her eyes were dark, her cheeks were red, and her lips were shining with wetness. Mikan always thought Tenko looked cute when she was flustered, but the way she looked _now_ evoked an entirely different kind of feeling, hot and needy.

“Um… w-was that okay?” Mikan asked.

Tenko jumped a little when she spoke. “Y-Y-Yeah,” she stammered, beet red. “Totally okay.”

“Would you like to do more?”

Tenko’s blush grew even deeper, somehow. It made Mikan wonder how much farther she could push her.

“O-Okay,” Tenko said after a minute. “You, um, might have to take the lead though…”

So that was still the case.

Well, she kind of expected that. It shouldn’t be too hard. She knew what came next.

“Alright.”

Mikan rose from the bed and turned to stand in front of Tenko. Though her heart was beating really fast, her fingers didn’t hesitate as they reached behind herself to untie her apron.

“Tsumiki-san?”

Normally she’d fold it, but this didn’t really seem like the time. She let it fall to the floor, and then began working on her pink uniform shirt.

“ _T-Tsumiki-san?!_ ”

Tenko called her name again. This time she sounded shocked instead of curious. “W-What are you doing?!”

Mikan’s fingers paused on the buttons. “Y-You said to take the lead, so…”

“T-That’s not what I meant!” Tenko exclaimed. She started waving her arms around. “I-I wasn’t asking you to _s-s-strip_ or anything…!” The word brought her so much embarrassment, she had a hard time even getting it out of her mouth.

Confused, Mikan stared down at her chest, now halfway uncovered. She was just wearing a normal white bra. But now she felt self-conscious.

“I-I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Do I look ugly, or something?”

“N-No, of course not! That’s not it!” Tenko vehemently denied it. “You’re beautiful! And, like, _really_ sexy, too! It’s just…” She fidgeted, no longer able to look at Mikan. “I-I don’t think we should go that far yet.”

That… didn’t make sense to her.

Mikan tilted her head. “Why not? Don’t you like me?”

It really didn’t make any sense. This was the opposite of how everyone else had treated her, and reacted to her stripping.

Although… when she thought of it that way, maybe it did make sense. From the start, Tenko had treated her the exact opposite of how she’d been treated in the past.

Still… if Tenko liked her, why wouldn’t she want to do this with her?

“Of course I like you!” Tenko said. “And I do… want to do t-that sort of thing with you, eventually,” she mumbled, face burning even brighter. “I-It’s just… don’t you think this is too soon?”

“Too soon?” Mikan asked.

“Y-Yeah!” Tenko nodded vehemently. “I-I mean, we just started dating a few days ago.” She sent Mikan an awkward smile. “I kind of need to prepare my heart first… That was my first kiss just now, you know?”

…Oh.

Mikan hadn’t known that, actually.

Tenko’s past crush on Himiko hadn’t worked out; that much, Mikan knew. But she had still automatically assumed that Tenko still had some experience. She was so likeable, after all. Not to mention that she was beautiful. Mikan just assumed a lot of people would have wanted to kiss her.

In a way, it was sort of nice that Tenko’s first kiss went to her… that sort of meant Tenko belonged to her, and her alone, didn’t it? When she thought of it like that, she definitely liked it.

But on the other hand, it also made her uneasy. Tenko never having kissed anyone before made things unbalanced. Tenko had given Mikan her first kiss, but Mikan couldn’t give Tenko hers in return. The thought was upsetting to her.

She really, really wished that had been her first kiss. It was certainly the first one she’d enjoyed.

Trying to shake off the negative thoughts as best she could, Mikan responded to her.

“I see. Um… Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m okay!” Tenko waved her off. “Though, um… y-your shirt is still unbuttoned…”

“Ah, I-I’ll go fix it!” Mikan said, covering her chest.

She turned around and redid the buttons on her shirt. While she was at it, she put her apron back on too. As she fixed her clothes, she started to feel a little embarrassed about her behavior… even though Tenko had said it was fine, she’d definitely gone too far and made her uncomfortable.

Once her clothes were fixed, there was a bit of an awkward silence. Mikan just stood there while Tenko sat on the bed. She really didn’t want to be responsible for ruining their time together -- especially when coming to her house and to her room had been her idea in the first place. So she tried to break the silence herself.

“What would you like to do now?” she asked.

“Hmm…” Tenko gave it some thought for a minute. Then an idea seemed to occur to her, and she blushed. “Would you like to, um…” She mumbled something Mikan couldn’t quite hear.

“What was that?”

Tenko bit her lip. Then, raising her hands in that same defensive position she made whenever she was embarrassed, she asked, “W-Would you like to rest your head in my lap?”

Mikan blinked.

“You… want to do something like that?”

“Yeah.” Tenko nodded. “To be honest, I’ve always wanted to do that with a girl.” She eyed her nervously. “Is it okay?”

Was it okay?

Okay didn’t even begin to cover it.

Mikan smiled at her shyly. “Will you pat my head?”

Tenko nodded. “Yeah, I can do that! I can also clean your ears for you if you want.”

“I cleaned my ears this morning. So, just patting my head would be fine.”

And that was how they spent the rest of the afternoon: Mikan with her head in Tenko’s lap, while Tenko gently pet her hair and talked to her about all sorts of things.

At first, Mikan had been a bit worried about how to adjust to their new relationship. But now, she could see there was nothing to worry about. Being girlfriends was really nice.

* * *

On Wednesday, Mikan returned to her classroom during lunch to see that most of the girls were clustered around Sonia’s desk. It looked like Sonia was showing them something on her phone.

“Wow, that’s really fancy,” Mahiru said.

“I’m glad you like it,” came Sonia’s reply. “It’s one of my favorite gowns, but I never found the right opportunity to wear it back home.”

“Your parents are sending over such an item just for the school dance?” Peko asked.

“Yes.” Sonia nodded happily. “I consulted with my stylists, and they thought it would be the most prudent choice for the occasion.”

Mahiru and Peko looked impressed. Ibuki looked impressed too – perhaps _too_ impressed. The excitement seemed to be too much for her to stomach.

“Sonia-chan in a real, actual princess dress… amazing! Gghh!” Ibuki clutched at her chest like she was having an attack. “Ibuki’s having heart palpitations already! Gundam-chan sure is one lucky guy!”

The one person who didn’t look impressed was Hiyoko. In fact, she made sure to show how much she didn’t care.

“It’s not that amazing,” she grumbled. “Western-style dresses don’t look nearly as good as eastern-style.”

“Tsumiki-san, would you like to see it too?”

Mikan jumped. Apparently, Sonia had noticed her standing there and staring. All the other girls turned to look at her too.

“Ah…” She hesitated. But the truth was, she _did_ want to see. “O-Okay.”

Mikan walked over to her desk, and Sonia held up her phone. The screen showed a decadent cream-colored dress hanging off a mannequin. It was made of an eye-catching shimmery material that almost seemed to be glittering, even though it was just a still photograph. The dress had a hue flared skirt so long it touched the floor. But most amazing of all was probably the many, many gems decorating the skirt – more gems than Mikan had ever seen in her life. Knowing Sonia, they were all real.

“It’s beautiful,” Mikan said when she eventually pulled away. “Thank you for showing me.”

“Are you looking forward to the dance as well? I’m getting rather pumped up, myself.” Sonia demonstrated by literally pumping her fists in the air.

Mikan was about to reply, but before she could, someone else cut in.

“She’s obviously not going,” Hiyoko said. “There’s no way someone would ask out an ugly bitch like her.”

An icy feeling overtook Mikan’s heart. Hiyoko’s gaze was intimidating. Combined with the harshness of her words, Mikan had the urge to immediately apologize for her own existence as usual.

She didn’t want to be hated any more. She couldn’t stand being looked at like she’d done something wrong.

But, somehow, this time she was able to hold back her urge to apologize.

Because when Mikan got over the sting of “ugly bitch” and actually listened to the rest of her words, she realized something: what Hiyoko just said wasn’t true.

Someone _did_ want to go to the dance with her. Someone _had_ asked her out.

The reason Mikan normally couldn’t defend herself against Hiyoko was because she didn’t actually disagree with her insults. Deep down, she felt like they were true; that she _was_ ugly, and annoying, and useless, and that nobody _did_ like her.

Of course those things were true. That was why everyone had hated her and bullied her throughout her entire life. There was nothing to argue against.

But this time, it was different. This time, she actually did have a rebuttal.

“Someone _did_ ask me, a-actually,” Mikan said, “I am going with someone. And…” She looked at Sonia. “A-And I am looking forward to it.

For a few seconds, there was silence. And then all of a sudden, she was pounced on.

“ _Ehhh?_ Really? Mikan-chan’s a taken woman?!” Ibuki grabbed her by the shoulders and jumped up and down. “Who is it? You’ve gotta tell us who! Ibuki wants to know!!”

“I-It’s Chabashira-san, f-from the other class,” Mikan said. Her voice came out garbled as Ibuki shook her.

“ _Tenko-chan?!_ ” Ibuki gasped. “Ghhh!” Ibuki started clutching her chest again. Mikan didn’t have time to wonder if that was a good reaction or a bad one.

“Congratulations,” Sonia said primly, smiling at her. “I do not know him, but I’m sure he is a wonderful person.”

“Tenko-chan isn’t a boy,” Mahiru informed her.

“Oh!” Sonia clapped a hand over her mouth. “Excuse me. I’m sure _she_ is a wonderful person.”

“S-She is,” Mikan agreed. “She’s really wonderful.”

“Tenko-chan is a nice girl,” Mahiru said, also flashing her a smile. “Congratulations.”

Mikan looked between her and Sonia in surprise. “T-Thank you.”

“This is awesome! Two girls together is like, double the fun!” Ibuki declared, having finally overcome her shock enough to speak. “You two are gonna be slippin’ and slidin’ all night long in the world of girls’ love!!”

“Hmmph.” Hiyoko scowled. “This conversation is boring. Let’s go somewhere else,” she said, tugging Mahiru away.

As the girls began to disperse, Mikan continued standing there, feeling stunned. She’d been a little afraid to reveal the identity of her date. She didn’t want to drag Tenko’s name through the mud by associating it with her. If Tenko became the target of bullying due to their relationship, her heart wouldn’t be able to handle it. The guilt would crush her.

She had also been afraid to tell her classmates she was going to the dance at all. Even though she knew it was irrational, she couldn’t shake the worry that the girls in her class would laugh at her if they found out, just like the girls at her old school would have. She was afraid of being told she didn’t belong, or having her tickets stolen, or something like that. She’d even once envisioned a scenario where her classmates set up a bucket of slime or dirty water over a door, and then dumped it on her when she walked into the dance. Although it sounded ridiculous, the fact of the matter was, it was exactly the kind of thing that would have happened to her before.

She knew that her current classmates were different than the classmates she’d before. But _knowing_ something and _feeling_ something as true were two different things.

Mikan had never anticipated such a supportive and positive response from her classmates. It filled her with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside.

“So, what are you going to wear?” Ibuki asked her. She was the only one of the girls who hadn’t walked off. “Do you have a dress yet? Are you gonna wear a suit?! With your killer body, you’d look good in either one!”

“Ah… I don’t have an outfit yet,” Mikan said. “A-And I don’t know if she does, either.” Mikan honestly hadn’t done much to prepare for the dance yet. She did know she'd have to buy something new. She didn't own any pretty dresses or other formalwear. Since she never got invited to parties, or really any kind of event, there had never been an occasion to buy such things.

“Let Ibuki pick out a dress for you!”

Mikan blinked at her. “Eh?”

“If you don’t have anything to wear yet, just let Ibuki pick something out for you!” she suggested. “Ibuki can find you something super sexy and heart-stopping that compliments your figure!”

“…You’ll really help me?” Mikan asked. She’d never received such an offer before.

“Yep, yep!” Ibuki put her hands on her hips and smiled smugly. “Ibuki knows all the best places to shop and buy super awesome clothes from! Just leave everything to Ibuki!”

For a moment, Mikan just stared at her. Going on trips to the mall was one of those things girls did together when they were friends… wasn’t it? Just like going to karaoke or eating at a café.

Mikan, of course, had never gotten to do that with anyone herself. No one had ever asked her… until now.

Even though she didn’t know Ibuki too well… it’d be stupid not to take the offer. If she rejected it, she might miss out on a chance to have fun before she graduated.

So, eventually, she nodded. “Alright. T-Thank you very much.”

And that was how Mikan ended up spending her Saturday at the mall with Ibuki, being dragged to store after store and dressed up like a doll in all the dressing rooms.

It was a bit tiring, trying to keep up with Ibuki, and having to turn down some of her more outrageous suggestions. But no matter how tired she felt, she never once complained. She was just so glad to finally feel like a normal girl.

* * *

A couple of days before the dance, Mikan stayed behind after school for cleaning duty. The other person who had it was Chiaki.

As she wiped the desks clean, she thought to herself that things had been going pretty well lately. Her grades were fine. End-of-the-year sports competitions had given her plenty of opportunities to be useful to others and help heal people’s injuries. All her classmates were in good spirits, talking excitedly about the dance. Even Hiyoko hadn’t been insulting her very much lately – and when she did, Mikan found that it bothered her less than it used to.

Then of course, there was her relationship with Tenko, which was also going smoothly. Mikan had invited Tenko back to her apartment once more since the last time. She still hadn’t seen Tenko’s home, but Tenko assured her that she was welcome to come by any time she wanted; Tenko had even raised the prospect of introducing Mikan to her parents. _That_ idea had given Mikan some anxiety; she wasn’t sure she was quite ready for that yet... but it made her very happy that Tenko believed in her.

It was still amazing to her that she had someone who loved her; that she was really dating someone. Just the thought was enough to put her in a warm, giggly mood.

Unfortunately, sometimes thinking about Tenko was a little _too_ distracting. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end up too wrapped up in her giddy thoughts to pay attention to what she was doing, like during class for example.

Or right now.

Mikan had been trying to imagine what it would be like to dance with Tenko, when she accidentally knocked the bucket of dirty water on the floor right onto its side.

“Ah!”

Mikan quickly bent over to put it upright, but unfortunately, she moved too fast, and the spillage had already reached her shoes. She slipped on the floor and fell backwards.

“Are you okay?” Chiaki asked, turning to see what the commotion was.

“Y-Yes,” Mikan said, embarrassed. She struggled to get up off the floor, but to her dismay, her legs slipped on the water again.

“Here, take this.” Chiaki carefully walked over to her, then held out her hand.

Mikan took it. Slowly, she got to her feet again. “T-Thank you.”

She smoothed out her clothes, cringing at how wet the back of her shirt and skirt now felt. Her back ached, and she felt bad about the mess she’d just created. Cleaning duty was supposed to be a time for her to be useful, but instead she just messed everything up with her carelessness. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, either. Everyone in class probably hated getting paired with her.

“Are you injured?” Chiaki asked, seeming to notice how despondent she looked.

Mikan hung her head. “No, it’s just… I-I’m sorry for making a mess when we’re supposed to be cleaning.”

“It’s fine,” Chiaki said. “We can take care of it quickly.”

“You shouldn’t have to take care of it. It was my fault.”

“It would go faster if we both cleaned, though,” Chiaki pointed out. “When someone offers to help you, it’s best to let them… I think.”

Mikan still felt bad, but she didn’t really have an argument against that. So, she let Chiaki assist her in mopping up the floor.

As they were mopping, Chiaki decided to strike up some conversation. “Are you looking forward to the dance, Tsumiki-san?”

Mikan nodded hesitantly. “Yes. Thank you for all your hard work planning it.”

“You’re welcome,” Chiaki said. Then, somewhat abruptly, she said, “I meant it before, when I said I was glad you were going… but you looked a bit uncomfortable to hear that.”

“A-Ah…” Mikan averted her eyes. She could remember that day in the cafeteria, when she first picked up an invitation. The anxiety she’d felt back then had been overwhelming; her fear of being rejected by Tenko was so strong. “I-It wasn’t anything you said,” she told Chiaki. “It’s just… I-I wasn’t sure the person I wanted to go to the dance with would accept me.”

“You know, Tsumiki-san,” Chiaki said, looking at her with her head tilted to the side, “you’re not the only one in our class who’s had trouble making friends.”

Mikan’s hands stopped moving. “...eh?”

“Kuzuryuu-kun used to be really angry and hard to get along with. Pekoyama-san was awkward, too… The life she lived before coming to Hope’s Peak was really different, so she had a hard time adjusting, I think.” Chiaki had an uncharacteristically thoughtful expression on her face as she recited all this. “Saionji-san was very prickly, Hanamura-san used to cause a lot of trouble, and Komaeda-kun… Komaeda-kun was the most difficult of all. Even now, I don’t feel like I really understand him,” she admitted with a frown. “And," she continued, "it used to be the same for me, too.”

“For you…?” Mikan asked, eyes wide as she waited for the other girl to continue. She’d forgotten all about cleaning. 

Chiaki nodded. “Mm. Before coming to Hope’s Peak, I thought that all I could do was play games. I’d never made friends before. I didn’t feel like I could understand real people. When I was first elected as class rep, I wasn’t sure that I could do it… I thought someone like me would be no good with that sort of thing.”

That… really wasn’t something Mikan had expected to hear.

Chiaki had always been quiet, and she did spend a fair amount of time playing games on her own. But Mikan had always seen her as their competent class rep. Beloved by everyone, supported by everyone, able to get along with everyone easily and bring the whole class together: that was the kind of person Chiaki was. If anyone was good at making friends, it was Chiaki. Mikan… had honestly envied her a lot.

It remined her of when she asked Tenko to tell her what she liked about her. She’d been completely shocked to hear that Tenko saw her as someone kind, helpful and capable. Mikan hadn’t seen herself that way at all. She’d seen herself as a hopeless person instead.

Maybe… something like that was going on here.

Chiaki was way more conscious of her flaws than Mikan was. Mikan was way more conscious of her flaws than Tenko was.

Maybe their other classmates did the same thing: beating themselves up over their shortcomings and mistakes, when the people around them didn’t even notice the things that were wrong.

She’d always thought it was just her. But maybe _everyone_ was like that.

That idea felt like a revelation.

After a moment, Mikan shook herself out of her thoughts enough to ask Chiaki the question she wanted to ask.

“What changed?” Mikan asked her.  “How did you become more confident?”

“Hmm.” Chiaki tapped her chin, looking up to the ceiling in thought. “If I had to say how, I think it’s because… of the bonds I formed at this school. Over time, I realized it’s possible to understand people, if I just try. Then, my friends became my support. Once I saw that they believed in me, it was easy to believe in myself. The same went for everyone else in our class, too, I think. That’s why…” Chiaki looked at her seriously. “I want Tsumiki-san to realize that she’s a part of our class, too.”

Mikan’s heart leapt.

“The person you wanted to go the dance with said yes, right?” Chiaki asked. When Mikan nodded, she smiled at her. “I’m glad. I think that now, everyone in our class has at least one person they can call their friend. I hope that one day, we can all be friends with each other, even we graduate. Because… I really love this class.”

That smile on Chiaki’s face, and that fond tone of voice… it was absolutely sincere. Mikan couldn’t doubt her for even a second.

She’d always assumed that none of her classmates considered her a real part of the class. She wasn’t friends with any of them, and didn’t have any special connections, the way that Hiyoko had with Mahiru, or Nekomaru had with Akane. She wasn’t loved by everyone like Chiaki, or admired by everyone like Sonia, or capable of energizing everyone like Ibuki. She wasn’t someone who brought people together. She had nothing to contribute. Everyone probably pitied her. That was what she’d always assumed.

It was hard to just accept what Chiaki had told her. But… it was also hard to reject it. No, it was impossible.

She was tired of second-guessing everything, and she was tired of being hated. If someone was telling her she liked her enough to consider her an important classmate, and even want to be her friend… then maybe she should just believe it.

“...Thank you, Nanami-san.”

“You’re welcome,” Chiaki said, still smiling. Then it faded from her face when she seemed to realize something. “Ah… I guess we should finish cleaning.”

“R-Right,” Mikan agreed, then hurriedly got back to work.

As she was right now, she couldn’t say she loved their class the way Chiaki did. There were still too many bitter memories for her: times when Teruteru had made fun of her when she fell, or Fuyuhiko had brushed off her attempts to talk to him, or Mahiru had done nothing when Hiyoko bullied her in front of everyone.

But recently, her classmates had treated her so kindly: Chiaki, Ibuki, Sonia, Mahiru, and others too. When she remembered their kind smiles and words of encouragement, she could almost picture it: a future where she could call her classmates her friends.

She hoped that Chiaki’s wish would come true.

* * *

On the evening of the school dance, Mikan stood outside the gates of her apartment complex, hugging her arms and tottering every few seconds in her heels.

She’d talked Ibuki down from some of the more revealing, strange-looking, and expensive dresses she’d suggested. The dress she’d ended up with was purple and had a black sash around the middle. She thought it looked tasteful, but the material was thin and it was strapless. Her bare shoulders felt cold in the evening air.

She’d also vetoed some of Ibuki’s recommendations for footwear, which included several pairs with spiked stiletto heels. Ibuki called them “badass”, but Mikan thought they were terrifying. There was no way she could walk in something like that.

In the end, she hadn’t managed to talk Ibuki down from heels entirely. The shoes she had ended up with weren’t as intimidating as most of the ones Ibuki recommended, but she still experienced some difficulty leaving her apartment in them. She really couldn’t imagine dancing without falling flat on her face… But, she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.

There were many other things that could go wrong this evening, too. But she’d already decided to do her best not to think about them. She’d been waiting for this moment for quite some time, after all: not just attending the school dance with Tenko, but going to any kind of fun event with someone she loved.

The potential risks were many, but lately Mikan had started to feel as though if she didn’t take any risks, she might miss out on her chance at happiness. More than anything, she didn’t want to keep being the miserable person she’d been for so many years. It would be nice if that lonely portion of her life was just… over.

At 6:00, a ride pulled up for her, just like Tenko had said… though the vehicle really wasn’t what she expected. She’d been expecting an average-looking car that you’d see every day on the street, not a pink convertible.

“Tsumiki-san, right?”

Mikan nodded. “Yes.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kaede Akamatsu said. She gestured behind her. “Please, come on in.”

Mikan said thank you, but she was no longer looking at her. She could look only at Tenko as she went to open the door to the backseat.

Tenko was wearing a deep blue one-shouldered dress made out of a shimmery material. She had her hair down for once, lying flat against the backseat of the car, and as Mikan moved to sit next to her, she saw that she had a small clip in her hair shaped like a pinwheel. She’d exchanged her usual pink choker for a white beaded necklace, and she was more heavily made-up than usual, with her characteristic winged eyeliner exaggerated to make her eyes look even darker. Those eyes were wide as she stared right back at Mikan in apparent awe.

For a few moments, she didn’t say anything, just gaped at her. Mikan… couldn’t tell whether to be flattered or worried by that reaction.

“T-Tsumiki-san,” she stammered out eventually.

“Y-Yes?”

“You look…”

Mikan held her beath.

“…a-amazing.”

Oh _._

She heaved a sigh of relief. “R-Really?”

“Yeah. You look gorgeous! Even more so than usual… i-it’s hard to even look directly at you,” Tenko said, blushing deeply.

Mikan wanted to jump for joy. “Thank you very much,” she said, giggling slightly. “You look beautiful too… even more than usual.”

It seemed to be a real struggle for Tenko to keep her composure after hearing that. After some sputtering, she mumbled, “T-Thanks.”

“Tsumiki-san, is your seatbelt in?” Kaede asked from the front seat.

“Ah, s-sorry,” she said, and quickly buckled it. “Okay, I’m ready now.”

“Then let’s go!”

And with that, Kaede started the car. They zoomed off down the road with a speed that startled Mikan. She couldn’t tell if it was because she’d never ridden in a convertible before, but it felt like they were going _really_ fast. She wasn’t sure this was within the legal limit.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. “A-Akamatsu-san, don’t you think you should slow down?” the boy in the passenger seat asked her.

“Hmm, this is how fast I usually drive… but if you’re uncomfortable, I guess I can go slower.”

At a slightly more reasonable pace, they continued the rest of the way to the school. It didn’t take very long at all, but Mikan was glad for the ride all the same; she did not feel comfortable walking that far in her heels.

When they arrived, Kaede let them off at the front gate. “You two can get off here if you want. We’ll go find a parking spot.”

“Got it. Thanks for the ride, Akamatsu-san,” Tenko said as she exited the car.

“Y-Yes, thank you.” Mikan got out as well.

“No problem. You two look really sexy tonight. Have a good time!”

And with that, the pink convertible disappeared around the school.

“S-Sexy?” Mikan repeated. Already, the compliments she was receiving this evening were making her head dizzy.

“For some reason, she tells girls things like that a lot,” Tenko explained. “Ah, not that it isn’t true in your case, or anything! It’s just… the first time she did it, it made my heart act all weird, you know?”

Mikan nodded. “I think I know what you mean.”

“Anyway… s-shall we go inside?”

Tenko offered her hand to Mikan. Her cheeks were tinged with pink, and her voice wobbled a little bit, betraying her attempt to act smooth. But it made Mikan’s heart beat faster all the same.

“Yes,” she said, accepting Tenko’s hand.

Unfortunately, their shared dream of a classy entrance to the dance was quickly ruined. After only a few steps, Mikan began to wobble in her heels.

“Whoa!” Tenko grabbed her by the waist before she could trip. They both ended up hunched over. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes,” Mikan said weakly. “It’s just… I’m not very good at walking in these.”

“I’m not either,” Tenko said. “That’s why I wore flats.”

“I wanted to wear something like that too, but… Mioda-san was really excited to pick them out for me…”

“Ah, Mioda-san picked them out? That makes sense.” Tenko didn’t remove the arm from around her waist – instead, she kept it there, supporting Mikan so she could walk the rest of the way into the school without tripping. “Toujou-san helped pick out this outfit.”

“The Ultimate Maid?” Mikan asked.

“Mm.” Tenko nodded. “She’s really elegant, so I figured she’d have good taste.”

“It’s really beautiful... both your dress, and your accessories. And your make-up.”

“T-Thank you.” Tenko let her go, but only to hold open the front door.

“Did Toujou-san help you with your make-up, too?” Mikan asked as she gingerly stepped inside the school. She could remember when Tenko said that she’d never done that sort of thing with another girl: doing each other’s clothes and make-up and stuff. She wondered if Tenko had finally gotten the opportunity.

“Ah, no… My mom helped me with it,” Tenko admitted, with an embarrassed tone of voice that indicated she knew that sounded uncool. “I do it for myself the rest of the time, though.”

“Your eyeliner always looks really good.”

“Mm, I’m glad you think so,” Tenko said, sounding confident instead of shy this time. “I started doing it that way when I saw this TV commercial that said, ‘Eyeliner so sharp, you can cut through your enemies!’ I watched that and thought, ‘This is perfect for me!’ As a master of neo-aikido committed to fighting male degenerates, I knew I had to have something like that… what’s so funny?” she asked, noticing that Mikan had started laughing.

“N-Nothing,” Mikan said, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Somehow, it was really endearing to picture Tenko taking a TV advertisement so seriously.

As they walked to the gym, Mikan let herself be supported by Tenko. They passed by other students on the way, who were also arriving a little late. Mikan recognized a few of them as Tenko’s classmates, though she didn’t see Angie and Himiko. When they reached the entrance, they ran into Kaede and her date again; Kaede smiled and held the door for them.

Walking inside the gym, Mikan took a moment to observe the scene in front of her. The room was dark, but different-colored lights had been hung from the ceiling as well as all over the stage. Sayaka Maizono was currently giving a performance onstage, crooning a cheerful love song into the mic. Oddly enough, Monophanie was accompanying her, though her attempts to harmonize with Sayaka were not very successful. Mostly she just made strange warbling sounds.

The area in front of the stage had been sectioned off into a dance floor, while the back of the gym had food and beverage stations, and lots of tables with flowing white tablecloths and rose petals strewn across the surface. Both areas of the gym were crowded. It was pretty noisy.

“Wow, I like all the decorations,” Tenko remarked. “It looks so cool, it’s hard to believe this is the same gym we use every day.”

“Yes,” Mikan agreed. “The student council did a very good job.”

“So… um…” Tenko seemed to be struggling with what she wanted to say next. “D-Do you, um…” She looked away from Mikan, face red, and thrust out her hand. “M-May I have this dance?!”

“Ah, y-yes!” Mikan said, flushing a little herself. “Though…” She wilted as she realized something. “That might be a little difficult for me…” The fact Tenko needed to support her when she was walking probably confirmed that she wouldn’t be able to dance in these shoes. She really should have just told Ibuki that her balance wasn’t good enough for heels.

Tenko, however, quickly dismissed her concerns. “If those are too hard to move in, you can just take them off. Look over there.”

Mikan looked over to where she was pointing, and saw that there was a big pile of high-heeled shoes in front of the stage. It looked like most of the girls who came in high heels had elected to kick them off before getting on the dance floor.

“Ah, I-I see. I’ll go do that,” she said, making her way over to the stage.

“It kinda makes me wonder, what’s the point of wearing them in the first place?” Tenko said, voicing Mikan’s own thoughts as she followed behind her. “Personally, I’ve always preferred sensible shoes, since I never know when I’ll need to spring into action. Ah, not that I’m insulting your taste though!” she added quickly. “Or Mioda-san’s.”

After placing her shoes next to the pile, Mikan faced Tenko expectantly. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Then…” Tenko gulped, looking flustered again. But she extended her hand to Mikan all the same. “L-Let’s do this.”

Mikan took Tenko’s hand and allowed herself to be led to the outskirts of the dance floor. After they let go and turned to face each other, Tenko put her hands around Mikan’s waist. Mikan assumed that meant her arms were supposed to go around Tenko’s neck, judging by all the examples of couples dancing she’d seen throughout her life, so that was where she placed them.

Then, once they were in position… well, they both just sort of stood there. Mikan wasn’t sure what to do next. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the other pairs around them, trying to see what they were doing.

“Um… ready to go?” Tenko asked.

“Y-Yes!”

“Great… Uh… How about on the count of three? One, two…”

When Tenko said three, they started moving. Mikan took a few hesitant steps in her bare feet, trying to imitate the slow swaying that everyone else was doing. Though she wasn’t sure how other pairs made it look graceful. She felt like they were just stumbling around.

It was certainly much easier to move without those shoes – at least there was that. With her shoes off, she and Tenko were back to being the same height again, which was nice. Being taller than her had been strange.

Although… being the same height as Tenko again also meant that most of the time when they were dancing, they were gazing straight into each other’s eyes. Which was kind of nice, but also kind of intimidating. It made it hard for her to concentrate; Mikan couldn’t give much consideration to what her feet were doing when Tenko’s face was _right there_.

Her flustered feelings combined with her usual clumsiness, and soon she was stepping on Tenko’s feet repeatedly, then frantically apologizing each time.

The thing was that Tenko didn’t seem to be a much better dancer herself. She stepped on Mikan’s feet pretty often, too… which hurt more than usual, since she wasn’t wearing shoes.

“Hmm. Dancing is more difficult than I anticipated,” Tenko mused, after shaking off Mikan’s fourth apology for stepping on her.

“S-Sorry I’m so uncoordinated,” Mikan apologized yet again.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” Tenko reassured her. “Some people make it look really easy, though…”

Tenko’s eyes drifted away from her. Mikan followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at Hiyoko, performing her traditional dancing in a pink kimono. A lot of other people were watching her, too. Although she didn’t have a partner, her movements were so graceful that there was nothing the least bit awkward about her. Her long sleeves and hair looked beautiful fanning out around her. The expression on her face was serene. She looked at peace; it was starkly different from her usual childish demeanor.

“She’s really good. Is that one of your classmates?”

“That’s Saionji-san,” Mikan told her.

“ _Saionji-san?!_ ” Tenko was shocked. The pleasant smile was wiped right off her face. “T-That’s not what I thought she’d look like. I thought she’d exude more of an evil aura.”

“S-She’s not evil or anything.”

“Still, there’s no need to watch her anymore,” Tenko said, sounding cross. Apparently she’d completely changed her attitude about Hiyoko’s dancing. “Instead of imitating someone else, we should design our own moves!”

“Our own moves…?”

“Yes,” Tenko declared, confidently posed with a hand on her hip. “It can be a new form of dance designed by me and Tsumiki-san… we’ll call it ‘Neo-Ballroom Dancing’! Want to give it a try?”

Neo-ballroom dancing… Mikan wasn’t sure what that would entail. But she was a little curious.

“O-Okay.”

“Great! For our first move, why don’t I pick you up and twirl you around three times?”

“Is… that really a dance move?” Mikan asked.

“It is now! Come here and I’ll show you.”

Tenko held out her arms. Mikan walked into them, letting Tenko embrace her. Then Tenko picked her up, hoisting her over her shoulder.

“One…two…three!”

Tenko spun in place three times. The room swirled around Mikan into one big blur.

“How was it?” she asked as she let Mikan down.

“It…It was good,” Mikan laughed, a little out of breath. She felt sort of dizzy, but it had been fun.

“I’m glad that was successful. For our next move, why don’t I hold you around your waist while you bend over backwards? I saw a couple do that move during a dance contest on TV one time!”

So, for the next few minutes, Mikan followed Tenko’s suggestions. It probably didn’t really count as dancing, since it was just a bunch of disjointed made-up moves. They probably looked strange to everyone else. But Mikan didn’t find herself caring too much. She enjoyed it anyway.

“Do _you_ have any ideas for a dance move?” Tenko inquired of her eventually.

“Um…” Mikan thought about it for a minute. There was one thing she really wanted to do, but she wasn’t sure it counted as dancing. Still, she didn’t have any other ideas, so she decided to ask anyway. “Y-You know when you picked me up and spun me around?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Well… D-Do you think you could do that again, only carrying me… differently, this time?”

“You mean like, actually carrying you, instead of just lifting you off the ground?”

Mikan nodded. “Y-Yes.”

“Sure, let’s do it,” Tenko said, and held out her arms again. Mikan climbed into them, and she got to enjoy being princess-carried by Tenko for the third time in her life.

“One…two…three!”

Tenko spun her around three times. Mikan started laughing again – she had to admit, she felt really silly. And she could see people were starting to stare. But…

“How was that?” Tenko asked.

“It was really fun,” she answered honestly, still giggling.

They were about to resume coming up with new dance moves, but before they could design any more, the music ended. It appeared Sayaka and Monophanie had finished their set.

“And so, the first performance of the evening is over,” Monotarou announced as he walked out onstage. “Put your hands together for Maizono Sayaka-chan, the Ultimate Idol! And Monophanie, the cutest and loveliest Monokub!”

Sayaka thanked the audience, then joined hands with Monophanie to take a bow.

“Maizono-san is amazing,” Tenko said as she clapped for them. “I hope one day, I can shine as brightly as that.”

“I’m sure you will,” Mikan said without thinking about it. Tenko turned to look at her with a surprised, embarrassed smile on her face.

“Now, for our second performance of the evening,” Monotarou continued. “This performance will be sure to wake everyone right up and get your blood pumping. Please enjoy the hard rock stylings of the Ultimate Musician, Mioda Ibuki, and our own shining star, Monokid!!”

The red curtain parted. Ibuki took to the stage, wearing a slinky black dress and holding an electric guitar. As she began to plug in her instrument, Monokid also emerged from behind the curtain, carrying a small blue guitar of his own.

“Did you know Mioda-san was performing?” Tenko asked.

“N-No, I didn’t,” Mikan admitted. Ibuki hadn’t mentioned anything about it during their shopping trip.

After Ibuki got her guitar set up, she reached for the microphone and addressed the audience. “Yoo-hoooo! How’s it going?! Is everyone ready to rock???” she yelled. There were some cheers of assent in response. “All Ibuki’s songs are 100% original compositions, including the one I’m gonna play for you right now,” she said proudly. “This first one I put a whole lot of love into. Please listen to my song, ‘I Squeezed Out the Baby, But I Have No Idea Who the Father Is!’”

Mikan had just enough time to wonder whether she actually heard that right before all her thoughts were scattered. An impossibly loud, screeching sound filled the gym, causing everyone to look around and wonder where it was coming from. It took everyone a minute to recognize the sound was coming from Ibuki’s guitar as she started playing.

“T-Too loud…” Mikan clapped her hands over her ears. She saw that Tenko was doing the same thing.

Not only was the sound incredibly loud, but it was so strong that it sent vibrations through her body. She and Tenko quickly backed farther away from the stage.

“Maybe we should take a break,” Tenko suggested, once they were far enough away that they could hear each other speak – although she did still have to raise her voice. “I don’t know if I can dance to this.”

Mikan wasn’t sure she could either. She didn’t want to insult Ibuki’s talent, but… it just sounded like noise to her. Ibuki’s singing was hard to hear over her guitar, and what she could make out sounded indecipherable. There wasn’t much of a melody. So she readily agreed with Tenko’s suggestion.

“G-Good idea.”

They made their way to the back of the gym where food and drink was being served. Tenko led her over to a table that offered meat and vegetable skewers. There was also a bucket of canned drinks, as well as a bowl of bright red punch.

“Fruit punch, huh?” Tenko asked. “That’s a staple of parties everywhere, isn’t it? I’ve always wanted to try it!”

“Um, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea…”

Tenko looked at her quizzically. “Why not?”

“Hanamura-kun might have spiked it,” she said. She remembered rumors to that effect, anyway. Her cheeks flushed with the memory of what happened last time he’d spiked the class’s food.

“With alcohol?!” Tenko gasped. “If that’s the case, I’ll have to test it before letting you have any.”

“N-No, if he spiked it, it was probably something else…”  And she wasn’t sure Tenko could recognize the taste of alcohol in the first place. Still, she couldn’t help but smile at the way Tenko always rushed to protect her. “M-Maybe we should just get some soda instead.”

“Yeah, okay, good thinking.”

They’d just set down their food and drinks and were about to dig in when someone called out to them from a neighboring table.

“Ooh, it’s Tenko! Good evening, Tenko!”

Mikan recognized who that childish-sounding voice belonged to right away: Angie Yonaga. The prospect of talking to Angie for the first time since the incident with Himiko’s locker gave her anxiety. But Tenko was already walking over, so she tried not to let it show on her face as she followed her.

“Hello, Angie-san, Yumeno-san,” Tenko greeted them.

Himiko looked subdued as usual, wearing a plain red dress and a black flowered hairband. Angie, on the other hand, looked quite unusual; her dress looked very different from what all the other girls were wearing. It looked quite exotic, with lots of beads and feathers sewn onto it. Different colors of paint appeared to have been strategically spilled onto the white fabric. It was probably something Angie had made herself.

“Is this your date? Is this your lover?” Angie asked, peering at Mikan curiously.

Being scrutinized like that made Mikan nervous. So did being asked directly about their relationship. But Tenko mostly managed to keep her voice steady when she replied, “Yes, Tsumiki-san is both my date and my l-lover.”

“I see~ God sends His blessings to you!” Angie said cheerfully, putting her hands together in what looked like a gesture of prayer. “Did you know that God loves gay people, too?”

“Um, well, t-that’s good, I guess!” Tenko’s face turned red.

“Yes, God’s love is generous. He loves all His children… even naughty girls like this one!” she said, jabbing her finger at Mikan.

“U-Um, s-s-sorry for being naughty!” Mikan shrinked back in fear. But Angie didn’t do anything to her, she just laughed.

“Nyahahaha! This song is getting me all pumped up,” she said, bouncing on her toes. “I can feel the divine vibrations. Let’s go dance, Himiko!”

“Do we have to?” Himiko asked.  

“Of course!” Angie insisted. “It’s time to dance and celebrate~ God doesn’t want us to just stand around.”

“But I’m tired,” Himiko complained.

“Weren’t you guys just taking a break?” Tenko pointed out.

“Nyeh.” Himiko seemed to realize she had no excuse. “W-Well… I guess I can go for now.”

“Then we’ll be going now! Bye-onara!”

And with that, Angie grabbed Himiko and pulled her off towards the dance floor.

As she was pulled away, Himiko looked back over her shoulder at them. “You two look nice,” Himiko said. “Have fun.”

“A-Ah, thank you! You have fun too, Yumeno-san!” Tenko called after her, sounding a little surprised.

After that, Mikan and Tenko sat down and began to eat. Ibuki finished her first song and started a second.

“This next number is a brand new song no one has ever heard before! That’s because Ibuki wrote it in the car on the way over! Everybody get excited for ‘I’m a Single Mom Now, But Soon the Paternity Test Will Reveal Everything!’”

“Do you know why she keeps singing about topics like this?” Tenko asked around a mouthful of chicken.

“I-I have no idea,” Mikan said.

“Mioda-san’s songwriting sure is a mystery, huh…”

While Ibuki and Monokid performed more oddly-titled rock songs, Mikan and Tenko finished their food and even went back for seconds. As they sat down and ate, Mikan observed all the pairs on the dance floor, trying to pick out her classmates from the throng of couples. Classmates or not, some couples looked really nice. Sonia had arrived, and was drawing a lot of attention as she danced with Gundam in her sparkling floor-length dress. The trim on Gundam’s tuxedo matched the color of her dress, and the material of his clothes was also very shimmery. The two of them were really eye-catching, looking graceful as they moved in tandem with each other. It was really fun to watch them.

Mikan also spotted Kaede and her date on the dance floor. Kaede was wearing some sort of masquerade mask that matched her plum-colored dress, which she hadn’t bothered to wear in the car. She looked confident in her movements as she led the boy in a quick-paced dance. Even though the music was rather unusual, Kaede managed to move in perfect harmony with it.

Watching couples usually made Mikan feel lonely and inadequate. But this time, something was different. Rather than reminding her of her own inadequacies, seeing the different pairs dancing just made Mikan want to hurry up and get out on the dance floor with Tenko again. It was pretty clear neither of them could dance, but even so, she still wanted to do it. If she had to guess why… the reason was that she wanted to prove their relationship to everyone else. She wanted to show off.

Thinking of it that way made her sound arrogant, but Mikan wasn’t sure it was wrong. To her, it made sense to want to show off their love. She’d never been prouder of anything in her life than the bond she’d formed with Tenko.

When they got up to throw away their plates, Ibuki’s latest song was finishing up. She began to introduce her next song. Mikan expected more of the same,  but this introduction went a little differently than the others had.

“How’s everybody doing?” Ibuki asked, to scattered whoops and cheers. “This next number will be a little slower, but Ibuki hopes you guys can rock out to it all the same. It’s dedicated to all the lovey-dovey couples in the room! This song is called, ‘I Hope My Feelings Reach You’! Please listen!”

Unlike the previous songs, this one didn’t begin with any screeching guitar sounds or hoarse wailing noises. Oddly enough, it appeared to have an actual melody. This time, Ibuki’s voice could be clearly heard over the instruments. Her singing voice sounded pretty when she wasn’t yelling and screaming.

Mikan found herself really, really wanting to go back to the dance floor. She could wait for Tenko to ask her again… or she could just ask herself.

“Chabashira-san, um… do you want to try dancing again?”

Tenko might have had the same idea, because she smiled at her and readily agreed. “Sure, okay.”

Some other couples also had the same idea. Several others got up from their tables to go dance; when Mikan and Tenko moved onto the dance floor, it was more packed than it had been all evening. Thankfully there was still space for them to move around.

This time, they tried to imitate the pairs around them. Mikan held Tenko closely, making small steps back in fourth, trying to sway in time with the music.  

She still didn’t have the hang of this. She stepped on Tenko’s feet a couple more times, and at one point, she bumped into someone from behind. When she twisted around to apologize, she saw that it was Gundam. Sonia simply smiled at her over his shoulder and said, “Please excuse us.”

Looking around some more, Mikan noticed that one couple on the dance floor was kissing. Seeing that display made her feel hot. She became even more conscious of Tenko’s warmth: the feeling of her embrace, how close her face was. That hot feeling, combined with the steady thrumb of vibrations produced by Ibuki’s music, was enough to make her feel lightheaded. It was a really romantic vibe.

Tenko seemed to be feeling the same way. “This is kind of nice, isn’t it?” she said, her voice muffled against Mikan’s cheek.

“Y-Yes,” Mikan agreed.

“I’m sorry I don’t know how to dance, but… are you at least having a little bit of fun?”

It took a moment for her to formulate an answer to that question. Not because she didn’t know the answer, but because it didn’t sound strong enough in her head. In a situation like this, a simple yes didn’t feel like it would suffice.

So she said, “This is the happiest I’ve ever been in my life” instead.

Tenko’s feet came to a halt.

She jerked out of their loose embrace, pulling back to look Mikan in the eye.

“T-That’s…” Tenko stuttered. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes wide with surprise. She swallowed audibly as she asked, “Is that… how you really feel?”

A little startled, Mikan nodded. “Y-Yes.”

Tenko didn’t say anything. She just flung her arms around her, hugging her tightly.

“C-Chabashira-san?!” Mikan squeaked.

“I’m so glad to hear you say that,” Tenko said. “I’m just… so, so glad.”

Slowly, Mikan wrapped her hands around Tenko’s back and returned the hug.

They weren’t dancing any more, just holding each other, but it didn’t matter. Everyone else on the floor could skirt around them.

“I’m glad Tsumiki-san feels that way,” Tenko continued. Her voice was quiet, so quiet Mikan could barely hear, but it also sounded full of emotion. “All along, I just wanted to make you happy. Because… I really l-love you. So… um…” she heaved out a breath, slumping over Mikan’s shoulder. “Thank you for coming with me tonight.”

Mikan realized that wasn’t the happiest she’d been in her life, before.

 _This_ was.

Her heart had leapt out her chest and was soaring somewhere far away. There was only one thing she could say to Tenko.

“I love you too." Mikan pulled herself out of Tenko's arms.

“Tsumiki-sa—”

Tenko tried to ask her what she was doing, but Mikan swallowed her words with a kiss.

Unlike their first kiss in her bedroom, she kept it brief, pulling back after a moment. She’d surprised herself with her own boldness. But she’d gotten an urge so strong, it had been impossible to resist.

The shocked, flustered look on Tenko’s face was familiar to her by now. It always looked really cute. After a moment of looking stunned, Tenko eventually broke into a smile, though she was still blushing.

“W-Wow, you really just did that in public.” Tenko laughed. “Aren’t you supposed to be the shy one?”

Mikan was blushing too, but she returned her smile as best she could. “I thought I’d give you a turn to be the shy one… it’ll get tiring if you’re always the one who has to be bold, right?”

“I wouldn’t get tired of you.” Tenko reached between their bodies and took Mikan’s hand. “May I have another dance? For, um, real this time?”

Mikan nodded happily. “Mm!”

They finally started to move again. Ibuki’s slow, romantic song had ended. Her next song was more of her usual style, but that just meant it wasn’t appropriate to slow-dance any more. A dance that was more fast and bouncy was in order. Since they didn’t know any real dance moves, they just improvised together.

As they spun around and around on the dance floor, Mikan looked around the room over Tenko’s shoulders, searching out her classmates.

She saw Sonia and Gundam still dancing together. She saw Mahiru dancing with her friend from the reserve course; when she caught her eye, Mahiru smiled at her. She saw Fuyuhiko and Peko step onto the dance floor to the knowing smiles of their friends. She saw Hiyoko continue to attract a crowd, and Kazuichi watch in awe as Kiibo attempted to dance.

Ibuki continued her performance without breaking a sweat. Nekomaru, Akane and the Imposter were packing away tons of meat skewers at the back of the room. Chiaki and Nagito were also sitting at one of the tables in the back, with that boy from the reserve course sitting between them. Teruteru was hanging around that area as well. He appeared to be chatting up any students he saw sitting alone.

That was everyone. Every student in her class was there.

As she danced with Tenko in the dress that one of her classmates picked out for her, she realized that this was it: this was what being a normal high school girl was like.

She could see all her classmates having fun. They, in turn, could see her, wrapped up in the arms of the person she loved.

No one tried to ruin her evening. No one tried to stand in the way of her happiness. When her classmates noticed she was looking at them, their smiles were kind.

Chiaki was right. She really was a part of the class.

To most people, that probably wouldn't sound like an impressive realization. To most people, that probably wouldn’t be a big deal. But it didn't matter.

That simple thought was enough to make Mikan burn with hope.

* * *

At the end of the evening, everyone slowly made their way out of the auditorium and spilled into the hallways. Some people headed straight for the exit, while others hung around and made plans.

Mikan was just thinking to herself that it sure was lucky she hadn’t fallen down once this evening, when she was suddenly grabbed from behind. In the high heels she’d put back on, there was no way she could withstand a surprise attack like that.

“Mikan-chaaaan!” Ibuki squealed.

“ _Waaaahh!_ ”

She fell flat on her face. Immediately, her entire body hurt… though at least she hadn’t sprained anything this time.

“Ah, sorry I wasn’t quick enough!” Tenko immediately rushed to help her up. “Mioda-san, what it is it?”

“Ibuki just wanted to hug Mikan-chan, because she looks soooo good in the dress Ibuki picked out!” Ibuki said cheerfully. “And also to tell her about the after party at Sonia-chan’s house!”

“A-After party?” Mikan asked, as she slowly got to her feet with Tenko’s help.

“Yep, yep! The whole class is invited, and their dates! There’s gonna be food, partying, and all sorts of steamy shenanigans! There may even be wine, if we can sneak it behind Fuyuhiko-chan’s back.”

“I-I see,” Mikan said, brushing off her dress. “Thank you for telling me.”

“No problem~!” Ibuki made a peace sign. “It’s gonna be tons of fun! Though Ibuki understands if you two are busy with _other_ things that you want to do in _private_.”

In case the suggestive tone of voice didn’t make it clear enough what she meant, Ibuki winked at them.

“W-We weren’t g-going to—” Mikan sputtered, but Ibuki cut her off.

“Gotta go now! See you two lovebirds later!”

And just as quickly as she’d arrived, Ibuki ran off again.

“An after party, huh?” Tenko remarked. She wasn’t blushing over what Ibuki had said, which made Mikan wonder if the implications really had gone right over her head. “That could be fun.”

“Yes,” Mikan replied. Though, truthfully, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be around her classmates. Quite the opposite.

After realizing her classmates saw her as one of their own, Mikan definitely did want to spend more time with them. It was just… She felt sort of tired. This evening had been really fun, but social situations still took a lot out of her.

“I wonder if my class is having one too? No one said anything about it, though…”

Less than a minute after Tenko asked that question, she got an answer, when they ran into Angie and Himiko at the front entrance.

“Himiko, Himiko~!” Angie was saying. “Let’s hurry to Kaito’s after party!”

Angie tugged on Himiko’s arm. Himiko, however, did not appear to share her enthusiasm.

“That’s way too tiring,” she protested. “It’s already late.”

“But God wants us to go and enjoy our youth,” Angie said. “We can’t ignore His wishes.”

“I’m tired,” Himiko complained. “I want to go home.”

“But Himiko—”

“If Yumeno-san is tired, then she should go home and get some sleep,” Tenko interjected as they walked up to them.

The girls turned to look at them. “Ah, it’s Tenko!” Angie exclaimed. “And she’s brought her lover with her!”

Tenko ignored her. “Yumeno-san, do you have a ride home? If not, we can probably squeeze another person in Akamatsu-san’s car.”

“Angie and I were going to leave together,” Himiko said.

“Since Tenko is here, why doesn’t Tenko come with us?” Angie asked.

“Huh?”

“We can all sleep over at my house!” Angie said enthusiastically. “We can take a bath together, share a big bed, and do evening prayer together! Tenko’s lover can come too, of course,” she added, looking meaningfully at Mikan.

Mikan wasn’t very comfortable with that plan. She knew the locker incident had blown over, and it didn’t seem Angie was mad at her for it. But… she still didn’t really know Tenko’s friends. She didn’t feel comfortable sleeping over at the house of some girl she hardly knew.

“I don’t know about all the things you just said, but… I guess a sleepover could be fun,” Tenko said reasonably. “Does it have to be at your place, though? We could go back to mine instead.”

“Going to my home would be best,” Angie insisted. “God hasn’t been getting enough blood sacrifices lately. Three more guests is just what He needs~”

“Blood sacrifices?” Mikan asked, intrigued. The idea was so interesting to her that she forgot all about her shyness for a second. “How do you perform a blood sacrifice?”

“Oh, the first thing you do is—” Angie began excitedly. Unfortunately, Tenko cut her off.

“That’s not important,” she said hastily. “Let’s just go to my house instead. I’m sure my family will be okay with it.”

Angie pouted, but didn’t protest any more. “If Tenko insists, then I guess we have no choice.”

“I’ve got to tell Akamatsu-san we won’t be riding with her, then I’ll call my parents and ask them to pick us up,” Tenko said, heading off. “Be back in a minute… oh, I almost forgot. Yumeno-san!”

Himiko looked up at her. “Yes?”

“You look really cute tonight!” Tenko said, smiling. “…Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say that earlier.”

“…Thank you,” Himiko replied, looking a little taken aback. Mikan thought she noticed her start to smile a bit after Tenko walked away.

For the next few minutes, Mikan listened to Angie talking to Himiko. But eventually, she decided to go check on Tenko. She slipped away from the other two girls unnoticed and went looking for her.

She found her inside an empty hallway, leaning against the wall and talking on her phone. Mikan walked up to her just as she was ending her call.

“Thanks, Mom. Bye!” Tenko clicked off her phone and tucked it into her purse. Then she noticed Mikan. “Ah, Tsumiki-san.”

“Is it really okay to have a sleepover at your house?” Mikan asked her. She definitely had the feeling Tenko offered her house because she could tell Mikan wouldn’t be comfortable going to Angie’s.

Tenko nodded. “Yeah. It’s short notice, but my parents don’t really mind… I think they’re just glad I have friends I can do these things with.”

Mikan nodded back, understanding. She hadn’t forgotten what Tenko had said before – about never getting to do girly things with her friends. She knew Tenko had been waiting for a moment like this for quite some time… and, honestly, so had she. That was why she decided to push past her fears of interacting with new people; she wasn’t going to let them stand in the way of what she and Tenko both wanted. Not anymore.

“Ah, not that my parents think you’re _just_ my friend, or anything!” Tenko said, flailing her hands in the air. “They know you’re my g-girlfriend, and they’re totally okay with that!”

“I-I see…” Mikan didn’t know Tenko had told her parents about them yet. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, a little anxious. “I’ll do my best to meet their expectations.”

“…Hey.”

Tenko walked up to her and clapped a hand on her bare shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m sure they’ll like you.”

Mikan looked at Tenko. She took in her warm smile, the honest look in her eyes. And she decided to believe her.

Stepping out of the hallway, Tenko held out her hand.

“Let’s enjoy our first sleepover together, okay?”


End file.
